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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. pound — a weight
  4. band — a music group
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. tear — to rip
  7. band — a ring
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. club — for dancing
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. tear — from crying
  19. club — for golf
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. fork — in a road
  22. club — a group
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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