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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. rash — hasty
  4. object — a thing
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. object — an aim
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. dip — to sink
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — to rip
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stem — to come from
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. rash — a series
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. snap — to click
  24. rash — on the skin

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