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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tear — to rip
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bore — to tire
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. dip — to sink
  19. fork — in a road
  20. tear — from crying
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. bore — to drill
  24. fall — the season

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