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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wake — a trail
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. pop — music
  15. spring — of water
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spring — the season
  18. bulb — for light
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. spring — a coil
  21. pop — to visit
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bulb — for light
  24. pop — soda

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