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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — an injury
  14. key — for a lock
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cap — of ice
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hand — help
  19. wind — moving air
  20. key — the most important part
  21. key — in music
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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