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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 116 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 · swing · branch · cap · wind · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. tear — to rip
  3. branch — a division
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cap — a hat
  11. wind — moving air
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. swing — in golf

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