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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. race — humankind
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pound — for dogs

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