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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: ball · stem · wind · tear · object · safe · cold · swing

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. tear — to rip
  3. object — a thing
  4. cold — not warm
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. wind — moving air
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stem — to come from
  9. object — to protest
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. object — an aim
  22. swing — to play on
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stem — of a plant

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