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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. current — electric
  5. current — happening now
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. wound — an injury
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. march — music
  14. dip — to sink
  15. current — of water
  16. present — there
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wake — a trail
  19. march — the month
  20. tear — from crying
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. present — the time now
  24. march — the month

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