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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. tear — from crying
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — from crying
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. charge — a price
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. charge — electricity
  19. date — the fruit
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. charge — in control
  22. tear — to rip
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. wound — an injury

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