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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. snap — to click
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. object — to protest
  8. court — for sport
  9. face — to confront
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. court — of law
  12. object — a thing
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. lean — to bend
  17. court — of a king
  18. face — to point toward
  19. lean — thin
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. tear — to rip
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. object — an aim

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