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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 116 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: cold · fan · face · tear · tube · row · pound · pit

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pit — in a race
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pit — a hole
  5. row — to paddle
  6. row — a line
  7. face — part of the head
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pound — a weight
  16. face — to confront
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. tube — a container
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. face — to point toward
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. pound — to hit hard

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