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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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Word bank
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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: nail · pitcher · tear · spell · swing · lie · band · bat

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bat — the animal
  7. tear — to rip
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. spell — letters
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. swing — to play on
  23. lie — to recline
  24. band — a ring

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