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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 is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. roll — a cake
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. snap — to click
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mate — a friend
  17. kid — child
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. roll — a list
  23. kid — to tease
  24. wake — a trail

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