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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pitch — completely
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. key — in music
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. key — for a lock
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bat — the animal
  22. key — the most important part
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cold — not warm

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