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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. swing — to play on
  3. land — a country
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. land — to come down
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. swing — in golf
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. pit — in a race
  12. bulb — for light
  13. pit — a hole
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bulb — for light
  17. swing — music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. land — ground
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. rush — a thrill

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