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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. tear — to rip
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. kick — in football
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — a phone
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. tear — from crying
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pound — for dogs

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