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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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Word bank
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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. tear — from crying
  3. present — there
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. season — in sport
  7. file — a tool
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. cap — a lid
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. cap — of ice
  16. tear — to rip
  17. cap — a hat
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. present — a gift
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. tear — from crying
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. wound — an injury

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