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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. object — an aim
  7. row — to paddle
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cue — a hint
  10. object — to protest
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. mine — for digging
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. object — a thing
  15. tear — to rip
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cue — a signal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cue — for pool
  24. field — for sport

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