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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. ground — crushed
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ground — the earth
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. file — a tool
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. tear — to rip
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wound — an injury
  18. content — happy
  19. file — a document
  20. content — the amount
  21. tear — from crying
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ground — a position
  24. pitch — a sports field

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