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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. lie — to recline
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. net — for catching
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. land — a country
  12. row — a line
  13. tear — from crying
  14. net — in sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. row — to paddle
  17. prune — to trim
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. land — to come down
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. land — ground
  24. net — after costs

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