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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — a thing
  3. pop — soda
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tear — from crying
  9. track — to keep track
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. tear — from crying
  12. track — a song
  13. pop — to visit
  14. track — a path
  15. object — to protest
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pop — music
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mine — for digging
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. wave — with your hand

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