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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 116 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. club — a group
  6. fine — all right
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fine — high quality
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. club — for golf
  17. current — happening now
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. tear — from crying
  20. current — electric
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — an illness
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. current — of water

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