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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · tear · net · game · kid · land · wake · date

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — after costs
  3. kid — to tease
  4. net — for catching
  5. rash — hasty
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. land — ground
  10. wake — a trail
  11. net — in sport
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kid — child
  15. game — a match
  16. date — the fruit
  17. game — wild animals
  18. land — to come down
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — a country
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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