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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — child
  5. sharp — clever
  6. cold — an illness
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. face — to point toward
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. season — of the year
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — a weight
  16. tear — to rip
  17. face — part of the head
  18. tear — from crying
  19. season — in sport
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rash — hasty
  23. face — to confront
  24. kid — to tease

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