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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: tear · bat · craft · hide · wave · fall

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. craft — boats
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fall — to drop
  11. tear — to rip
  12. craft — a skill
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. craft — a handicraft

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