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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: tear · stick · present · plane · ball · wound · kid · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — to tease
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. present — a gift
  10. ball — a great time
  11. present — the time now
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wind — moving air
  22. plane — a tool
  23. present — there
  24. kid — child

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