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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cold — an illness
  9. key — for a lock
  10. cell — in biology
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. tear — from crying
  15. key — in music
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rock — music
  23. sharp — clever
  24. rock — a stone

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