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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 am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mine — for digging
  4. drill — the tool
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. sharp — clever
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. spring — of water
  9. roll — a cake
  10. spring — a coil
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. spring — the season
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. drill — a practice
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. drill — army training
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. tear — from crying
  24. roll — a list

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