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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rush — hurry
  3. tear — from crying
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. club — a group
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. club — for dancing
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. club — for golf
  24. sharp — clever

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