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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cold — an illness
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. tear — from crying
  7. vault — a safe
  8. file — a tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rule — a law
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. file — a line of people
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. kick — in football
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. rule — government
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. file — a document

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