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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 · wind · tear · field · calf · file

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. tear — from crying
  3. file — a line of people
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. file — a tool
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. file — a document
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. field — a subject
  18. wind — to turn a key

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