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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: dip · band · mate · kid · saw · wind · mouse · tear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. band — a music group
  3. tear — from crying
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. kid — child
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mate — a partner
  15. dip — to sink
  16. mate — to breed
  17. band — a ring
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tear — to rip
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mouse — for a computer

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