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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. club — a group
  3. club — for golf
  4. rest — a break
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. rest — what's left
  7. perch — the fish
  8. rest — what's left
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. club — for dancing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — government
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. rule — a law
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wound — an injury

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