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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · straw · bore · row · rule · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bore — to drill
  6. row — a line
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bore — to tire
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. row — to paddle
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rule — government

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