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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. fork — in a road
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wake — a trail
  11. rule — a law
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. spell — letters
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. spell — magic
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pound — a weight
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. hide — to keep secret

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