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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 120 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. rash — a series
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — after costs
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. stem — to come from
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. net — in sport
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. bark — to shout
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — to turn a key

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