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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bat — the animal
  3. track — to keep track
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. track — a path
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — help
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hand — in cards
  19. march — the month
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tear — from crying
  24. hide — animal skin

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