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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chest — a box
  4. court — of a king
  5. chest — of your body
  6. court — for sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. chest — of your body
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wind — moving air
  12. row — a line
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. row — to paddle
  15. tear — to rip
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tear — from crying
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. pitch — completely
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. court — of law
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bat — in an idiom

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