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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spring — the season
  3. rule — government
  4. bass — the fish
  5. tube — a container
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. rule — a law
  8. bass — low music
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. current — electric
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. spring — a coil
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. tear — to rip
  17. current — of water
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. tube — the underground
  21. pound — a weight
  22. spring — of water
  23. current — happening now
  24. bass — the instrument

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