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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — the animal
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wound — an injury
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. tear — to rip
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. swing — in golf
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bat — for baseball

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