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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lean — to bend
  3. bore — to drill
  4. staff — employees
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — to shout
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a ring
  10. tear — to rip
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to tire
  14. band — a music group
  15. row — to paddle
  16. lean — thin
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. tear — from crying
  21. row — a line
  22. staff — employees
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. staff — a stick

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