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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. snap — to click
  5. bulb — for light
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. tear — to rip
  9. firm — steady
  10. last — final
  11. last — finally
  12. hand — in cards
  13. last — to go on
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. firm — decided
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bulb — for light
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. firm — a company
  24. cold — not warm

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