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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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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cold — not warm
  6. band — a ring
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. cold — an illness
  11. band — a music group
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mug — to rob
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mug — a face
  18. band — a rubber band

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