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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. bark — to shout
  4. game — wild animals
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. hand — help
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bound — certain
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. band — a music group
  18. bound — tied together
  19. tear — from crying
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. game — a match

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