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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: rush · cold · saw · pound · leaves · spell · pitcher · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spell — magic
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cold — not warm
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. tear — to rip
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rush — hurry
  12. saw — the tool
  13. spell — letters
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. spell — a short time
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. cold — the Cold War

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