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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. press — to push
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. row — to paddle
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. press — a publisher
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. press — newspapers
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — an illness
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. row — a line
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. row — a quarrel

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