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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. branch — a division
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. rest — what's left
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. rest — what's left
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. court — of law
  21. rest — a break
  22. court — of a king
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. spring — a coil

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