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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tear — from crying
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. kid — to tease
  8. tear — to rip
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. row — to paddle
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — a line
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rest — a break
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. hand — help
  23. kid — child
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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