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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cell — in biology
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. sharp — clever
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. ground — a position
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lie — to recline
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. tear — to rip
  23. lie — an untruth
  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