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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 · tear · cold · race · pitch · mouse · wake · lash

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. race — humankind
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wake — a trail
  10. tear — from crying
  11. race — the arms race
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. race — a contest
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. wake — before a funeral

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