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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. spring — the season
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hand — in cards
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cap — a lid
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wake — a trail
  16. hand — help
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cap — a hat
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — with an edge

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