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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's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pitch — completely
  3. march — the month
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. march — the month
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — the animal
  17. shower — rain
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. march — music
  23. shower — to wash
  24. racket — for tennis

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