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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. firm — steady
  3. charge — in control
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mate — a partner
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mate — a friend
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. capital — money
  13. current — electric
  14. firm — decided
  15. mate — to breed
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. charge — a price
  19. firm — a company
  20. charge — electricity
  21. current — happening now
  22. capital — a city
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. current — of water

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