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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: fine · tear · tube · kid · board · arm · cold · game

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. fine — high quality
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. board — to get on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — a match
  10. kid — to tease
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tube — a container
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — an illness
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. tube — the underground
  20. game — wild animals
  21. kid — child
  22. board — a committee
  23. fine — all right
  24. arm — part of the body

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