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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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rule — government
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rule — a law
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rock — a stone
  13. file — a document
  14. wound — an injury
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bulb — for light
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rock — music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. snap — to click
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. file — a line of people

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