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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mate — a friend
  3. hand — in cards
  4. march — the month
  5. mate — to breed
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. tear — to rip
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — music
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cold — not warm
  17. dip — to sink
  18. mate — a partner
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. wake — a trail
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — help
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hand — part of the body

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