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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 124 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. cap — a hat
  3. present — the time now
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. branch — a division
  7. cap — of ice
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. row — a line
  11. present — there
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cap — a lid
  15. present — a gift
  16. tear — to rip
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. tear — from crying
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. row — to paddle

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