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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — a trail
  4. pop — music
  5. bound — obliged
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. bound — tied together
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pop — soda
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. land — a country
  14. pop — to visit
  15. land — ground
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — to come down
  22. bound — certain
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lash — an eyelash

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