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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. track — to keep track
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spell — letters
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. track — a song
  11. spell — a short time
  12. snap — to click
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. track — a path
  15. wound — an injury
  16. current — happening now
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. spell — magic
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. current — of water
  22. current — electric
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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