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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. spell — a short time
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. shower — to wash
  9. tear — from crying
  10. degree — an amount
  11. row — a line
  12. tear — to rip
  13. chest — of your body
  14. shower — rain
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rock — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. spell — letters
  20. degree — temperature
  21. spell — magic
  22. chest — a box
  23. degree — from a university
  24. rock — a stone

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