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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — an illness
  3. current — electric
  4. club — for dancing
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. current — of water
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. bank — of a river
  9. current — happening now
  10. field — for sport
  11. club — a group
  12. bank — for money
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — farmland
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bank — for money
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. club — for golf
  23. field — a subject
  24. wave — of the sea

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