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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: bark · date · straw · lean · tear · file · bat · racket

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. 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. bark — to shout
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. file — a line of people
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. tear — to rip
  13. lean — thin
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. file — a document
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lean — to bend
  24. 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