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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. wind — moving air
  3. land — ground
  4. tear — to rip
  5. net — in sport
  6. key — the most important part
  7. land — a country
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. key — for a lock
  11. net — after costs
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. tear — from crying
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. key — in music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. land — to come down
  21. perch — the fish
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. net — for catching
  24. wind — moving air

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