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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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468
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: mine · face · bat · ball · tear · pass · calf · file

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. face — to point toward
  7. file — a tool
  8. ball — a great time
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. file — a line of people
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. ball — a dance
  14. face — part of the head
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. file — a document
  19. mine — for digging
  20. pass — a permit
  21. tear — from crying
  22. face — to confront
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. pass — to spend time

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