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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 116 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: wind · tear · bore · chair · racket · fan · clip · bark

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. bore — to tire
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bore — to drill
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. clip — to cut
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wind — moving air
  15. clip — a video
  16. bark — to shout
  17. clip — for paper
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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