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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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Word bank
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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: racket · bat · present · chair · tear · plane

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bat — the animal
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. present — the time now
  11. present — there
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. tear — to rip
  14. plane — a tool
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. racket — for tennis

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