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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: wind · hide · bank · bat · tear · trunk

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wind — moving air
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — for money
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bank — of a river
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — the animal

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