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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: bat · bore · tear · court · face · current · deal · cold

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — to handle
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. current — electric
  7. face — to confront
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. face — to point toward
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bore — to drill
  14. current — of water
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. court — for sport
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. court — of a king
  21. current — happening now
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — an illness
  24. face — part of the head

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