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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bound — tied together
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bank — of a river
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bank — for money
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. can — to be able to
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bank — for money
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cold — an illness
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — a tin

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