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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — goods
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. stock — shares
  5. kick — in football
  6. spring — of water
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — to paddle
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. file — a line of people
  11. row — a line
  12. file — a document
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. file — a tool
  17. spring — a coil
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — in a race
  23. spring — the season
  24. tear — to rip

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