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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 120 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: hand · kick · fan · tear · row · fall · scale · last

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tear — to rip
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. fall — to drop
  12. scale — in music
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. hand — help
  15. kick — in football
  16. scale — size or range
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. fall — the season
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. last — to go on
  24. hand — part of the body

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