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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 120 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rest — what's left
  3. spell — letters
  4. tear — to rip
  5. kid — to tease
  6. season — in sport
  7. tear — from crying
  8. deal — to handle
  9. rest — a break
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. spell — a short time
  15. season — of the year
  16. drill — a practice
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. kid — child
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. spell — magic
  24. rest — what's left

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