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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. tube — the underground
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. tear — from crying
  7. foot — a measure
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hand — in cards
  15. tube — a container
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chest — a box
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — help

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