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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: nail · tear · hand · present · wound · cold · bay · bowl

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. present — the time now
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — help
  8. tear — to rip
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. present — there
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. present — a gift
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wound — an injury

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