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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. kid — to tease
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. drill — the tool
  8. wake — a trail
  9. track — a song
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. net — after costs
  15. lean — to bend
  16. drill — a practice
  17. net — in sport
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. drill — army training
  21. track — a path
  22. net — for catching
  23. track — to keep track
  24. kid — child

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