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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tube — a container
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tube — the underground
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. land — to come down
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fall — the season
  14. hand — help
  15. ground — a position
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. fall — to drop
  18. ground — crushed
  19. land — ground
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. fall — to drop
  22. land — a country
  23. hand — in cards
  24. coach — a trainer

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