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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 116 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: lean · hand · kid · tear · wind · rush

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. hand — help
  5. rush — hurry
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. lean — thin
  11. kid — child
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rush — a thrill

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