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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. row — a line
  7. rule — government
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wound — an injury
  11. row — to paddle
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kick — in football
  15. lean — thin
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — not warm
  18. tear — to rip
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — to bend
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rule — a law
  24. wake — a trail

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