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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pound — a weight
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stock — shares
  8. tear — to rip
  9. craft — a skill
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stock — goods
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. snap — to click
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cold — not warm
  19. squash — the sport
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. craft — boats

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