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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. club — a group
  3. last — final
  4. present — the time now
  5. tear — to rip
  6. last — finally
  7. bound — certain
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. file — a tool
  10. club — for golf
  11. bound — obliged
  12. wind — moving air
  13. file — a line of people
  14. present — a gift
  15. wind — moving air
  16. last — to go on
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. tear — from crying
  19. file — a document
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bound — tied together
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — goods
  24. present — there

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