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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. key — for a lock
  3. tear — from crying
  4. can — a tin
  5. row — a line
  6. key — in music
  7. ground — the earth
  8. key — the most important part
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. wind — moving air
  11. can — to be able to
  12. tear — to rip
  13. can — a tin
  14. swing — in golf
  15. file — a document
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. ground — a position
  19. swing — to play on
  20. row — to paddle
  21. file — a line of people
  22. swing — music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a tool

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