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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kick — in football
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. tear — to rip
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — a break
  23. tear — from crying
  24. clip — to cut

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