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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 · lean · key · ruler · row · cold · bat · sharp

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. key — in music
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bat — the animal
  7. key — the most important part
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. row — to paddle
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — for a lock
  18. lean — thin
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. tear — from crying
  22. lean — to bend
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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