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

Word bank: tear · kick · wound · chair · snap · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to click
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wound — an injury
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. chair — a leader
  16. kick — in football
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. toast — a drink to someone

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