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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — final
  3. current — happening now
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — to wash
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. tear — to rip
  10. current — of water
  11. last — to go on
  12. current — electric
  13. last — finally
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. chest — a box
  20. rock — music
  21. sharp — clever
  22. shower — rain
  23. rock — a stone
  24. rock — to move gently

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