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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mate — a partner
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of law
  5. snap — to click
  6. kid — to tease
  7. court — of a king
  8. row — a line
  9. mate — to breed
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. court — for sport
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. cell — a phone
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. cell — in biology
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. kid — child
  23. tear — to rip
  24. row — to paddle

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