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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. tear — to rip
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. file — a line of people
  7. net — in sport
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. mine — for digging
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cell — in biology
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. file — a document
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cell — a phone
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wound — an injury

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