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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: last · season · pop · kid · rule · tear · saw · ground

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. saw — the tool
  3. ground — crushed
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. tear — from crying
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. last — to go on
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — to visit
  10. last — finally
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. season — in sport
  17. rule — a law
  18. ground — a position
  19. season — of the year
  20. last — final
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — child
  23. pop — music
  24. ground — the earth

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