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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: kid · tear · hand · mine · row · charge · wind · squash

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. charge — electricity
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — help
  13. kid — to tease
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. tear — to rip
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — the sport
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. hand — in cards
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — a line
  23. tear — from crying
  24. charge — a price

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