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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. hand — help
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — the earth
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. season — in sport
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. season — of the year
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wake — a trail
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rule — government
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. ground — a position
  20. chest — a box
  21. rule — a law
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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