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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. tear — to rip
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. row — to paddle
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bear — the animal
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — a position
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cap — of ice
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. row — a line
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rest — a break
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. cap — a lid

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