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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rock — music
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. swing — music
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. branch — a division
  12. tear — from crying
  13. swing — to play on
  14. rock — a stone
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. swing — in golf
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. rush — to hurry

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