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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bat — the animal
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mark — a grade
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mine — for digging
  12. file — a tool
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cell — in biology
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. mark — a trace
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kick — in football
  22. rest — a break
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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