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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 116 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. staff — employees
  3. tear — from crying
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. swing — music
  6. staff — a stick
  7. tear — to rip
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wound — an injury
  10. staff — employees
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. swing — to play on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. row — to paddle
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — a line
  22. shower — rain
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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