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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. tear — from crying
  4. chest — of your body
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bear — the animal
  8. kick — in football
  9. tear — to rip
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — child
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. chest — of your body
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. march — music
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. march — the month
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chest — a box
  21. perch — the fish
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bear — the animal
  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