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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: saw · bear · kick · bat · tear · swing · tube · pitcher

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bear — the animal
  4. swing — music
  5. tube — the underground
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bear — the animal
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bat — the animal
  12. swing — in golf
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. tube — a container
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kick — in football
  20. tear — to rip
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. saw — the tool

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