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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hand — help
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — in cards
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. tear — to rip
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. lean — to bend
  11. net — after costs
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — from crying
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. tear — from crying
  17. net — in sport
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. tube — the underground
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. lean — thin
  22. net — for catching
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fan — to cool the air

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