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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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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: tear · net · bat · bore · pop · row · hand · chest

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pop — soda
  4. row — to paddle
  5. net — in sport
  6. row — a line
  7. pop — music
  8. net — for catching
  9. hand — help
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chest — a box
  14. net — after costs
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pop — to visit
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bore — to drill
  24. hand — in cards

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