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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tear — to rip
  3. club — a group
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stock — goods
  6. club — for dancing
  7. plane — a tool
  8. tear — from crying
  9. club — for golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — money
  14. tear — from crying
  15. last — finally
  16. capital — a city
  17. last — final
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. stock — shares
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. last — to go on

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