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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: rush · cell · tear · hand · foot · kid · object · snap

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hand — help
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. tear — to rip
  7. object — a thing
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. object — to protest
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. foot — a measure
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hand — in cards
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. snap — to click
  20. kid — child
  21. cell — a phone
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. object — an aim
  24. tear — from crying

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