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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 116 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. club — for dancing
  7. tear — from crying
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. row — a line
  10. current — electric
  11. tear — to rip
  12. current — happening now
  13. land — ground
  14. club — a group
  15. band — a music group
  16. kid — child
  17. club — for golf
  18. row — to paddle
  19. kid — to tease
  20. current — of water
  21. sharp — clever
  22. band — a ring
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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