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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 124 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. last — to go on
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. fall — to drop
  5. can — to be able to
  6. game — a match
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. object — to protest
  10. fall — to drop
  11. last — finally
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bat — the animal
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. object — an aim
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. can — a tin
  20. last — final
  21. tear — from crying
  22. can — a tin
  23. fall — the season
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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