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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 120 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. club — a group
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. foot — a measure
  5. bound — tied together
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chair — a leader
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bound — certain
  11. club — for dancing
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. club — for golf
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. spring — of water
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. lie — to recline
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. bound — obliged
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spring — the season
  24. bat — in an idiom

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