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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cell — a phone
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. cell — in biology
  8. lie — to recline
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — a leader
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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