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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. tear — to rip
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — in football
  6. cold — not warm
  7. key — for a lock
  8. press — to push
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — a publisher
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. last — final
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. last — finally
  16. rash — a series
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. key — in music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. press — newspapers
  22. key — the most important part
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rash — hasty

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