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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 120 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chest — a box
  5. hand — help
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — a line
  9. row — to paddle
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. drill — the tool
  15. pit — a hole
  16. drill — army training
  17. chest — of your body
  18. drill — a practice
  19. pit — in a race
  20. stock — shares
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. hand — in cards
  23. stock — goods
  24. chest — of your body

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