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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. row — to paddle
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. key — for a lock
  6. present — there
  7. present — a gift
  8. object — a thing
  9. key — the most important part
  10. object — an aim
  11. row — a line
  12. tear — from crying
  13. object — to protest
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. key — in music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fork — in a road
  20. shower — rain
  21. present — the time now
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. bat — in an idiom

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