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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 116 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. track — a song
  3. tear — to rip
  4. track — to keep track
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — in football
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. track — a path
  12. stem — to come from
  13. bound — obliged
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bound — certain
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bound — tied together
  18. scale — in music
  19. branch — a division
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stem — of a plant

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