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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 116 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. hand — in cards
  3. mate — a partner
  4. hand — help
  5. mate — to breed
  6. rock — music
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. face — to point toward
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. face — to confront
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rash — a series
  17. mate — a friend
  18. cold — an illness
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. face — part of the head
  21. rash — hasty
  22. dip — to sink
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rock — to move gently

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