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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. tear — to rip
  5. land — to come down
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tube — a container
  13. cold — an illness
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. land — ground
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. land — a country
  18. tube — the underground
  19. ground — a position
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ground — the earth
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. tube — in a tire

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