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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 120 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: row · bay · bat · key · fan · hand · tear · sharp

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. key — in music
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. key — the most important part
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. hand — help
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. row — to paddle
  21. key — for a lock
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. row — a line
  24. tear — from crying

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