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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: stand · kid · fan · tear · cold · wound · cell · mine

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. mine — for digging
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — an injury
  8. kid — child
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. cell — a phone
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tear — from crying

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