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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — farmland
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. rash — a series
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. rash — hasty
  12. tear — from crying
  13. field — for sport
  14. branch — a division
  15. row — to paddle
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. tear — to rip
  19. row — a line
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. chair — a leader
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. nail — for a hammer

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