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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 · hide · bear · field · kid · bay · patient · tear

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. tear — to rip
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. tear — from crying
  20. field — a subject
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bear — to put up with

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