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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wind — moving air
  3. drill — army training
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — moving air
  7. drill — a practice
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wound — an injury
  12. ground — a position
  13. scale — size or range
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. drill — the tool
  17. swing — to play on
  18. scale — in music
  19. bore — to tire
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bore — to drill
  24. swing — music

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