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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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Word bank
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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: bear · land · tear · plane · ground · mine · chest · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. tear — from crying
  3. plane — a tool
  4. tear — to rip
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. row — to paddle
  8. land — to come down
  9. bear — the animal
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. land — ground
  12. ground — the earth
  13. land — a country
  14. chest — of your body
  15. ground — a position
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — a line
  18. bear — the animal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. mine — an explosive
  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