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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. can — a tin
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. game — wild animals
  8. spell — magic
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spell — a short time
  11. fork — in a road
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. can — a tin
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. spell — letters
  16. cold — not warm
  17. can — to be able to
  18. clip — a video
  19. tear — from crying
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. clip — to cut

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