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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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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. sharp — clever
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. staff — employees
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. hand — in cards
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wind — moving air
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. staff — employees
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. staff — a stick
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hand — help
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. temple — a place of worship

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