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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 116 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cold — not warm
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. club — a group
  5. cold — an illness
  6. club — for dancing
  7. field — farmland
  8. cap — of ice
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. club — for golf
  12. field — for sport
  13. cap — a hat
  14. tear — from crying
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cap — a lid
  17. field — a subject
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. deal — to handle
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. racket — for tennis
  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