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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. dip — to sink
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rash — hasty
  8. charge — in control
  9. charge — electricity
  10. kid — child
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rash — a series
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — to rip
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. tear — from crying
  23. charge — a price
  24. kid — to tease

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