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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cap — a hat
  5. root — the cause
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tear — to rip
  10. wound — an injury
  11. root — of a word
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. cap — of ice
  18. land — to come down
  19. root — of a plant
  20. rush — hurry
  21. land — a country
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. content — the amount
  24. land — ground

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