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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rock — a stone
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bat — the animal
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. tear — from crying
  9. scale — size or range
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. scale — in music
  14. bank — of a river
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rock — music
  17. bank — for money
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. bank — for money
  20. rash — a series
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — a phone
  24. tear — from crying

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