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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. bound — certain
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — in cards
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. last — to go on
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hand — help
  16. saw — the tool
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bowl — a dish

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