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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. cold — not warm
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — ground
  10. key — in music
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. tear — to rip
  13. roll — a cake
  14. wound — an injury
  15. roll — a list
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. land — to come down
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. key — for a lock
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tear — from crying

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