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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. row — a line
  5. current — electric
  6. cold — an illness
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. foot — a measure
  9. club — a group
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — of water
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. club — for dancing
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. club — for golf
  20. current — happening now
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — to paddle

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