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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 116 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. kid — to tease
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. present — the time now
  7. cold — not warm
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. present — there
  15. bat — the animal
  16. present — a gift
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — an illness
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. safe — out of danger

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