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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. tear — to rip
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kid — to tease
  6. tear — from crying
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. foot — a measure
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. ground — crushed
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — the animal

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