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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wind — moving air
  4. key — in music
  5. tear — from crying
  6. saw — the tool
  7. key — for a lock
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. shower — rain
  10. can — to be able to
  11. cold — not warm
  12. key — the most important part
  13. saw — the tool
  14. shower — to wash
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — an illness
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. can — a tin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. can — a tin
  24. wind — moving air

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