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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cap — of ice
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. kid — to tease
  11. court — for sport
  12. cap — a lid
  13. fall — the season
  14. court — of law
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. date — the fruit
  21. pitch — completely
  22. fall — to drop
  23. kid — child
  24. court — of a king

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