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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 is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. land — ground
  5. stem — to come from
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. tear — from crying
  12. hand — help
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. land — a country
  15. hand — in cards
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. land — to come down
  24. stem — of a plant

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