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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: last · chest · nail · bank · swing · tear · bat · wind

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. swing — music
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bank — for money
  6. last — finally
  7. bank — of a river
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bank — for money
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tear — to rip
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — final
  16. chest — of your body
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chest — a box
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. tear — from crying
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play on

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