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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. kick — in football
  9. row — a line
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. fork — in a road
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. chair — a leader
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. row — to paddle
  18. tear — to rip
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. shower — to wash
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. shower — rain
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. tear — from crying

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