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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: cap · wind · bore · kid · tear · stand · kick · mark

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kid — child
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. stand — to bear
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cap — a hat
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mark — a trace
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bore — to tire
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cap — a lid
  19. mark — a grade
  20. kick — in football
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. tear — to rip
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. kid — to tease

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