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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. tear — from crying
  4. present — a gift
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. board — to get on
  7. present — there
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. roll — a list
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. present — the time now
  15. tear — from crying
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rush — hurry
  18. roll — a cake
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. scale — size or range
  21. board — a committee
  22. tear — to rip
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. scale — in 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