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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: game · kid · wound · mug · foot · tear · bay · pound

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mug — a face
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wound — an injury
  9. tear — to rip
  10. foot — a measure
  11. kid — child
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mug — to rob
  18. mug — a cup
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. wound — an injury

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