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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: press · kid · fall · wound · object · hand · wind · bear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — to protest
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bear — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. object — a thing
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fall — the season
  12. press — newspapers
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bear — the animal
  18. press — a publisher
  19. hand — help
  20. press — to push
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fall — to drop
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hand — in cards

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