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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. prune — to trim
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. swing — to play on
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tear — to rip
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. file — a tool
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. row — a line
  16. swing — music
  17. row — to paddle
  18. file — a document
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. swing — in golf
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. band — a music group
  24. stand — to bear

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