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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: tear · rush · mine · land · pass · cold · nail · wake

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. pass — a permit
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. tear — to rip
  12. land — ground
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. land — a country
  19. rush — hurry
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. land — to come down
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wake — a trail

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