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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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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: tear · wound · face · racket · hand · pop · roll · mouse

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. tear — to rip
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — soda
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. pop — music
  9. hand — in cards
  10. roll — a cake
  11. face — to confront
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. tear — from crying
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. roll — a list
  17. face — part of the head
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. hand — help
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. face — to point toward
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. wound — an injury

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