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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: wound · track · mate · tear · kid · spring · rash · rest

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  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. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rash — a series
  7. track — a song
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spring — the season
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mate — a partner
  12. kid — to tease
  13. rash — hasty
  14. track — to keep track
  15. mate — a friend
  16. rest — a break
  17. spring — of water
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spring — a coil
  23. track — a path
  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