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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. bore — to tire
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — to tease
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rash — a series
  12. bear — the animal
  13. season — in sport
  14. file — a document
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kid — child
  17. rash — hasty
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. file — a line of people
  20. season — of the year
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bear — the animal
  23. file — a tool
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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