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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: ball · rush · file · tear · mine · hand · wind · object

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mine — for digging
  4. object — a thing
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a line of people
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. object — to protest
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — in cards
  16. object — an aim
  17. tear — from crying
  18. hand — help
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. file — a tool
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mine — belonging to me

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