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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · kid · wind · bowl · sharp · tear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. sharp — clever
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. tear — to rip
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. kid — child
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mate — to breed
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mate — a friend
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. bowl — a dish

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