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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. toast — bread
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. ball — a great time
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. fall — the season
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bat — the animal
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fall — to drop
  18. ball — a dance
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — a lid
  22. tear — to rip
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. cap — of ice

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