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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. charge — a price
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. tear — from crying
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. charge — electricity
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. tear — to rip
  15. hand — in cards
  16. charge — in control
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — not warm

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