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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. chest — a box
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. net — in sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. net — for catching
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. tear — to rip
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. chest — of your 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