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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. pass — a permit
  7. bound — certain
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — child
  11. bound — obliged
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. present — there
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bound — tied together
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. tear — from crying
  23. band — a ring
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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