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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mate — a partner
  3. rock — music
  4. lean — to bend
  5. fall — to drop
  6. club — for golf
  7. fall — to drop
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — to breed
  12. can — a tin
  13. mate — a friend
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lean — thin
  18. fall — the season
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. club — a group
  23. tear — to rip
  24. rock — a stone

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