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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. firm — steady
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — to wash
  8. swing — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. row — a line
  11. firm — a company
  12. tear — from crying
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. firm — decided
  17. row — to paddle
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. shower — rain
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. swing — in golf
  23. tear — to rip
  24. root — the cause

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