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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wound — an injury
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. shower — rain
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wind — moving air

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