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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · bat · pound · object · fall · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. object — to protest
  4. last — to go on
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. object — a thing
  7. tear — to rip
  8. fall — the season
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. object — an aim
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pound — a weight
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fall — to drop

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