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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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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 · fall · mine · tear · ball · fork · kid · bore

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. fall — to drop
  4. ball — a dance
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. ball — a great time
  8. fork — in a road
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bore — to drill
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mine — for digging
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bore — to tire
  16. hand — help
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — the season
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. hand — in cards
  23. tear — from crying
  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