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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. saw — the tool
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. foot — a measure
  9. present — the time now
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — not warm
  14. present — there
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. tear — from crying
  20. file — a document
  21. present — a gift
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a line of people

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