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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: mark · kid · land · date · bound · cap · tear · fall

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. mark — a grade
  3. land — a country
  4. mark — a trace
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. fall — to drop
  7. kid — child
  8. bound — certain
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. date — the fruit
  12. land — ground
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bound — tied together
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. fall — the season
  17. bound — obliged
  18. cap — a lid
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — to come down
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — of ice
  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