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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. charge — electricity
  4. face — to confront
  5. tear — from crying
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. charge — in control
  10. club — a group
  11. kid — to tease
  12. content — happy
  13. face — to point toward
  14. current — of water
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. current — electric
  17. mine — for digging
  18. charge — a price
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. tear — to rip
  21. content — the amount
  22. kid — child
  23. current — happening now
  24. face — part of the head

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