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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 116 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. rock — a stone
  8. kid — child
  9. row — a line
  10. rock — music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — help
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. kid — to tease
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. spell — a short time
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — letters

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