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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.

Make a worksheet

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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rest — a break
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. game — a match
  7. cold — not warm
  8. branch — a division
  9. cold — an illness
  10. rest — what's left
  11. tear — from crying
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rest — what's left
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. temple — a place of worship

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