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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. tear — from crying
  3. march — the month
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — to rip
  6. lean — to bend
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bulb — for light
  15. lean — thin
  16. hand — in cards
  17. kick — in football
  18. wind — moving air
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bulb — for light
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. saw — the tool
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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