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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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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. track — a path
  7. tear — to rip
  8. track — a song
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. track — to keep track
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. tear — from crying

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