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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — in sport
  3. file — a tool
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. snap — to click
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rash — a series
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. rest — what's left
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — hasty
  19. file — a line of people
  20. net — after costs
  21. file — a document
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. racket — a loud noise

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