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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bat — the animal
  3. club — a group
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tube — the underground
  7. club — for golf
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. present — the time now
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — from crying
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. shower — to wash
  17. present — there
  18. present — a gift
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. shower — rain
  21. club — for dancing
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. jam — in traffic

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