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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fork — in a road
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. game — a match
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. kid — child
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. last — to go on
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tear — from crying
  22. game — wild animals
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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