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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. lean — thin
  3. current — electric
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tube — a container
  8. current — happening now
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. court — for sport
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. lean — to bend
  15. court — of law
  16. bark — to shout
  17. fine — high quality
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fine — all right
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. court — of a king
  23. current — of water
  24. bark — of a tree

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