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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wound — an injury
  3. current — of water
  4. game — wild animals
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rash — a series
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rash — hasty
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. tear — from crying
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. wound — an injury
  14. tear — to rip
  15. squash — the sport
  16. current — electric
  17. squash — to crush
  18. stock — goods
  19. current — happening now
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. game — a match
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. stock — shares

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