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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bear — the animal
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. root — the cause
  9. net — for catching
  10. chest — a box
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bear — the animal
  14. mine — for digging
  15. row — a line
  16. saw — the tool
  17. root — of a word
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chest — of your body
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. root — of a plant
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mine — an explosive

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