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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. last — to go on
  5. file — a document
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitch — completely
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pound — a weight
  10. last — final
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. file — a tool
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. hand — help
  16. tear — to rip
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. last — finally
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. file — a line of people
  24. pound — for dogs

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