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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: saw · toast · tear · snap · mine · wound · pit · rule

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. tear — from crying
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. rule — government
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. snap — to click
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. saw — the tool
  12. rule — a law
  13. wound — an injury
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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