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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — for catching
  3. lean — thin
  4. row — a line
  5. fall — to drop
  6. row — to paddle
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. tear — from crying
  10. net — in sport
  11. scale — in music
  12. net — after costs
  13. scale — size or range
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. lean — to bend
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. perch — the fish
  18. tear — to rip
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. fall — to drop
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. fall — the season
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. branch — a division

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