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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. spring — a coil
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. rash — hasty
  7. row — a line
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. vault — a safe
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. rash — a series
  21. mine — for digging
  22. sharp — clever
  23. spring — the season
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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