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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. wind — moving air
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. file — a tool
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. root — the cause
  8. wake — a trail
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tear — from crying
  12. file — a document
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kid — child
  18. file — a line of people
  19. season — of the year
  20. root — of a word
  21. tear — from crying
  22. season — in sport
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. root — of a plant

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