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

Word bank: lean · rest · kick · bowl · bat · tear

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rest — what's left
  9. lean — to bend
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. lean — thin
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — a break
  18. bat — the animal

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