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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. saw — the tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. tear — to rip
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. fork — in a road
  9. saw — the tool
  10. spring — of water
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. band — a ring
  13. scale — in music
  14. spring — the season
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. band — a music group
  17. stand — to bear
  18. spring — a coil
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. scale — size or range
  24. band — a rubber band

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