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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wound — an injury
  4. tear — to rip
  5. row — a line
  6. rock — a stone
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — to paddle
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. content — the amount
  12. file — a line of people
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — a series
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. wound — an injury
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. tear — from crying
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. file — a document

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