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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bark — to shout
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. shower — to wash
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. tear — to rip
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. field — for sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. tear — from crying
  18. shower — rain
  19. field — a subject
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. field — farmland
  24. bark — of a tree

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