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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: date · tear · kick · bat · pound · stock

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — the animal
  4. tear — to rip
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. date — the fruit
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. kick — in football
  16. pound — a weight
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pound — to hit hard

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