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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. land — to come down
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. tear — from crying
  5. row — a line
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cold — not warm
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. tear — from crying
  12. land — ground
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. land — a country
  15. last — to go on
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. cold — an illness
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. pass — a permit
  23. foot — a measure
  24. pass — to spend time

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