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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. tear — to rip
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — clever
  6. row — a line
  7. shower — to wash
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bulb — for light
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. row — to paddle
  12. prune — to trim
  13. shower — rain
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. hand — help
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tear — from crying
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — of a plant

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