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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. tear — to rip
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. tear — from crying
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. date — the fruit
  17. chest — a box
  18. hand — help
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hand — in cards
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — part of the body

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