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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ball — a dance
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. file — a document
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. ball — a great time
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. snap — to click
  15. tear — from crying
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool

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