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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. last — final
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rash — a series
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. tear — from crying
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — child
  13. perch — the fish
  14. tear — from crying
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. last — finally
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. file — a line of people
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. kid — to tease
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. rash — hasty

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