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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. suit — in cards
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — the month
  7. fall — to drop
  8. march — music
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. spring — the season
  11. court — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spring — of water
  14. suit — to fit
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. suit — clothes
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wound — an injury
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — a coil
  21. march — the month
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. fall — the season

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