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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: mate · wind · roll · row · arm · lean · net · tear

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. net — after costs
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — to bend
  6. net — in sport
  7. mate — a friend
  8. net — for catching
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. mate — a partner
  11. roll — a cake
  12. wind — moving air
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — to rip
  16. lean — thin
  17. tear — from crying
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. mate — to breed
  22. roll — a list
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — a quarrel

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