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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. file — a line of people
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — from crying
  9. stand — to bear
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wake — a trail
  16. tear — to rip
  17. kid — child
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. game — a match
  24. kid — to tease

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