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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. tube — the underground
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. key — for a lock
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mate — to breed
  7. row — to paddle
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mate — a friend
  11. tube — a container
  12. key — in music
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. mate — a partner
  19. row — a line
  20. mine — for digging
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wound — an injury
  24. key — the most important part

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