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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. saw — the tool
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. wound — an injury
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pit — a hole
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. tear — from crying
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pit — in a race
  18. tear — from crying
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. wound — an injury

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