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

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. hand — in cards
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. hand — help
  12. kid — child
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. rash — a series
  15. kid — to tease
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rash — on the skin

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