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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tear — to rip
  4. craft — boats
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — a trail
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pound — a weight
  11. rash — a series
  12. row — a line
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. degree — temperature
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. craft — a skill
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. rash — hasty
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. rash — on the skin

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