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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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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: hand · tear · row · patient · kick · rule · fan · bat

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. rule — a law
  3. row — to paddle
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bat — the animal
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. kick — in football
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. tear — to rip
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. row — a line
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rule — government
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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