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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 116 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: tube · cue · wind · tear · hand · bay · charge · cold

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. hand — in cards
  3. tear — from crying
  4. charge — in control
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a hint
  12. charge — a price
  13. charge — electricity
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cue — a signal
  16. tube — a container
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. hand — help
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. tube — the underground
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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