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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. drill — a practice
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — an injury
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. stem — to come from
  13. bear — the animal
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wound — an injury
  18. stem — of a plant

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