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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. key — for a lock
  3. row — a line
  4. cap — of ice
  5. present — a gift
  6. last — to go on
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. last — final
  9. tear — from crying
  10. key — the most important part
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wound — an injury
  14. last — finally
  15. key — in music
  16. present — there
  17. cap — a hat
  18. tear — to rip
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wound — an injury
  22. present — the time now
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — a phone

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