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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 116 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: wind · kid · fall · calf · bore · patient · tear · snap

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wind — moving air
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. snap — to click
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bore — to tire
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. fall — the season
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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