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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. chair — a leader
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cap — a hat
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bore — to drill
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cap — of ice
  22. bore — to tire
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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