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

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. kid — to tease
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bank — for money
  7. clip — to cut
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. net — for catching
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. kid — child
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bank — for money
  15. bank — of a river
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. clip — a video
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. net — after costs
  20. tear — from crying
  21. object — a thing
  22. tear — to rip
  23. net — in sport
  24. tear — from crying

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