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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. cold — not warm
  3. row — to paddle
  4. tear — to rip
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rush — hurry
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bear — the animal
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hand — in cards
  14. net — in sport
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. tear — from crying
  17. row — a line
  18. net — after costs
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. hand — help
  23. net — for catching
  24. chair — a leader

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