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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. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. foot — a measure
  3. bear — the animal
  4. row — a line
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. cold — not warm
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ground — the earth
  11. row — to paddle
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. tear — to rip
  14. branch — a division
  15. fine — all right
  16. ground — a position
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bear — the animal
  21. ground — crushed
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fine — high quality

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