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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. land — ground
  3. file — a document
  4. season — of the year
  5. lean — thin
  6. rock — a stone
  7. file — a tool
  8. season — in sport
  9. land — a country
  10. rock — music
  11. land — to come down
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mine — for digging
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. wind — moving air
  22. lean — to bend
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. season — to add flavour

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