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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. drill — army training
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. fall — to drop
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. scale — in music
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wound — an injury
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pop — to visit
  18. tear — from crying
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. drill — the tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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