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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: hand · fan · tear · leaves · cap · kid · lash · prune

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cap — of ice
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. hand — in cards
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. kid — to tease
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cap — a lid
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — help
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cap — a hat
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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