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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. spell — letters
  3. face — to point toward
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cap — a lid
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — magic
  9. cap — a hat
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. cap — of ice
  12. land — a country
  13. tear — from crying
  14. face — to confront
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. face — part of the head
  19. land — to come down
  20. row — a line
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. spell — a short time
  24. tear — to rip

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