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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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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: kick · ball · pop · tear · club · wind · wake · saw

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. pop — soda
  4. ball — a great time
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ball — a dance
  8. tear — to rip
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. club — for dancing
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pop — music
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. club — for golf
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pop — to visit
  24. club — a group

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