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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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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: stand · hand · wound · cold · temple · season · ground · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. tear — from crying
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tear — to rip
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. ground — a position
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. hand — help
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. cold — an illness
  19. season — of the year
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. stand — to bear
  23. ground — the earth
  24. season — in sport

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