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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. tear — from crying
  3. shower — to wash
  4. plane — a tool
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — to paddle
  7. staff — a stick
  8. swing — in golf
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. tear — to rip
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. club — for golf
  14. swing — music
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. club — for dancing
  17. tear — from crying
  18. staff — employees
  19. club — a group
  20. staff — employees
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. hand — help
  24. row — a line

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