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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 120 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. present — a gift
  3. last — final
  4. present — there
  5. rest — what's left
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. tear — to rip
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. present — the time now
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — not warm
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rest — a break
  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