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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. object — a thing
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. object — an aim
  7. row — a line
  8. shower — rain
  9. court — of a king
  10. object — to protest
  11. court — of law
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stock — goods
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. court — for sport
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. shower — to wash
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. stock — shares
  23. row — to paddle
  24. tear — to rip

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