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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 120 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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. tear — from crying
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. file — a tool
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bank — for money
  12. rush — hurry
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bank — for money
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. file — a document
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tear — from crying

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