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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 · wound · court · hide · wake · tear · rest · patient

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rest — a break
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. court — of a king
  7. tear — from crying
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wake — a trail
  12. rest — what's left
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. court — for sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. tear — to rip
  23. court — of law
  24. rest — what's left

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