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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cold — not warm
  3. snap — to click
  4. tear — to rip
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mate — to breed
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bulb — for light
  14. mate — a partner
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tear — from crying

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