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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. firm — a company
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. root — the cause
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. firm — decided
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. hand — help
  11. game — wild animals
  12. toast — bread
  13. firm — steady
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — a tool
  17. hand — in cards
  18. game — a match
  19. root — of a word
  20. cold — an illness
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. plane — in geometry

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