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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. track — to keep track
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. tear — to rip
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. firm — a company
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bat — the animal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. firm — steady
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. tear — from crying
  21. branch — a division
  22. firm — decided
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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