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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kid — child
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — soda
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pass — a permit
  13. game — a match
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. tear — to rip

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