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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: wind · chair · bat · game · net · swing · tear · can

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. net — in sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — to be able to
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — music
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. game — a match
  15. can — a tin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. net — after costs
  18. game — wild animals
  19. tear — to rip
  20. net — for catching
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wind — moving air

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