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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 · pitcher · cold · tear · lean · suit · mine · wound

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. kid — child
  4. suit — clothes
  5. suit — in cards
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mine — for digging
  8. lean — to bend
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. suit — to fit
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitcher — a jug

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