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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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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: tear · track · last · hand · saw · pitcher · kick · spring

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. last — finally
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. spring — the season
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — to go on
  13. last — final
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spring — of water
  16. tear — to rip
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — in football
  22. track — a path
  23. saw — the tool
  24. track — a song

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