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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. net — after costs
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. craft — a skill
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. craft — boats
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fine — all right
  14. net — for catching
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. tear — from crying
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. pop — to visit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. net — in sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. pop — music

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