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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: last · sharp · tear · wind · mine · wave · hand · pound

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. last — finally
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. hand — help
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. sharp — clever
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pound — a weight
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. wind — moving air
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. hand — in cards
  24. wind — moving air

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