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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bound · bark · tear · court · wind · rush · object · wound

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rush — hurry
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bound — obliged
  11. object — an aim
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. object — to protest
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. court — for sport
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. tear — to rip
  20. object — a thing
  21. court — of law
  22. bark — to shout
  23. court — of a king
  24. bound — certain

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