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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cold — not warm
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wind — moving air
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. capital — a city
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cap — a lid
  17. tear — from crying
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cap — of ice
  21. capital — money
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wind — to turn a key

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