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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. stock — shares
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. kick — in football
  5. rush — hurry
  6. hand — in cards
  7. fall — the season
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kid — child
  10. last — to go on
  11. stock — goods
  12. hand — help
  13. last — finally
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kid — to tease
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. fall — to drop
  24. last — final

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