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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: nail · chest · fall · bay · tear · pop · perch · spell

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. chest — a box
  3. spell — letters
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pop — soda
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pop — to visit
  12. tear — from crying
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. fall — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. spell — magic
  22. pop — music
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tear — to rip

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