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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ball — a dance
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. tear — to rip
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bound — tied together
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. hand — help
  14. track — a path
  15. pit — in a race
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. hand — in cards
  18. spring — the season
  19. track — to keep track
  20. spring — of water
  21. pit — a hole
  22. bound — certain
  23. track — a song
  24. bound — obliged

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