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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. present — the time now
  6. row — to paddle
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fine — all right
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. present — a gift
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tear — from crying
  16. present — there
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mine — for digging
  21. prune — to trim
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. row — a line
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com