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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. net — after costs
  4. bank — for money
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. bank — for money
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. net — for catching
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. hand — in cards
  18. plane — a tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hand — help
  22. bat — the animal
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. bank — of a river

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