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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. tear — to rip
  4. last — final
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. mine — for digging
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. vault — a safe
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. vault — an arched ceiling

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