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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. staff — employees
  5. mate — to breed
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bat — the animal
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. march — the month
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. tear — to rip
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. march — music
  21. mate — a partner
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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