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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. march — the month
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. hand — in cards
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. bore — to tire
  7. wind — moving air
  8. land — a country
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. bore — to drill
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. tear — to rip
  13. hand — help
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. march — music
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. tear — from crying
  20. march — the month
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. wind — moving air
  24. dip — to sink

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