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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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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: kid · mine · bound · hand · perch · tear · face · kick

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. hand — help
  3. kick — in football
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. bound — tied together
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. tear — from crying
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bound — certain
  13. mine — for digging
  14. perch — the fish
  15. tear — to rip
  16. kid — child
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hand — in cards
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bound — obliged

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