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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — employees
  5. tube — a container
  6. shower — to wash
  7. tear — from crying
  8. staff — a stick
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bat — the animal
  13. kick — in football
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. tear — to rip
  16. shower — rain
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. mate — a partner
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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