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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — for pool
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — a lid
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cap — of ice
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — the season
  11. cap — a hat
  12. spring — of water
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chest — a box
  18. cue — a hint

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