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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. saw — the tool
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pound — a weight
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hand — help
  22. wind — moving air
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. wind — to turn a key

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