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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. drill — a practice
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. chest — of your body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. land — a country
  7. tear — from crying
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. row — a line
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. tear — from crying
  14. drill — army training
  15. pitch — completely
  16. drill — the tool
  17. stem — to come from
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. land — ground
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. tear — to rip
  24. chest — a box

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