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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: staff · bat · kid · tear · hide · rest

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. staff — a stick
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. kid — child
  6. rest — what's left
  7. staff — employees
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. kid — to tease
  10. rest — what's left
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. staff — employees
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rest — a break
  18. bat — for baseball

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