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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. bat — the animal
  4. game — wild animals
  5. track — to keep track
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. track — a path
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. game — a match
  15. track — a song
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. kid — child
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kid — to tease
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tear — to rip

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