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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: bat · clip · tear · foot · fall · kick

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fall — the season
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. clip — for paper
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — in football
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — a video
  16. fall — to drop
  17. foot — a measure
  18. bat — in an idiom

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