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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. toast — bread
  3. pop — to visit
  4. rush — hurry
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a great time
  8. fall — to drop
  9. drill — a practice
  10. fall — the season
  11. hand — help
  12. pop — music
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — the tool
  17. ball — a dance
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. tear — to rip
  20. drill — army training
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pop — soda
  24. hand — part of the body

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