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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. tear — to rip
  4. court — for sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. court — of law
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. court — of a king
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. calf — of the leg

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