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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — crushed
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. swing — in golf
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. march — music
  11. ground — a position
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. swing — music
  15. march — the month
  16. ground — the earth
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — a lid
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. cap — of ice
  23. wound — an injury
  24. sharp — clever

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