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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rash — hasty
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. rash — a series
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spell — magic
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. bay — a horse colour

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