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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fall — the season
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hand — help
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. track — a song
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. spell — letters
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bulb — for light
  12. track — to keep track
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. spell — magic
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. spell — a short time
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. track — a path

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