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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. deal — to handle
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. row — a line
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. tear — from crying
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. tear — to rip
  12. ground — the earth
  13. cap — a lid
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cap — a hat
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wound — an injury
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cap — of ice
  24. ground — a position

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