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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — final
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — thin
  6. foot — a measure
  7. kid — child
  8. charge — a price
  9. pop — music
  10. kid — to tease
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. tear — from crying
  13. charge — electricity
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — to rip
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. charge — in control
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pop — soda
  24. tear — from crying

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