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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. saw — the tool
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. kid — child
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. tear — from crying

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