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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: tear · cap · bear · chest · row · swing · mark · wound

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cap — a lid
  4. swing — in golf
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. chest — a box
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. cap — of ice
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. chest — of your body
  12. row — a line
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bear — the animal
  15. swing — music
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mark — a grade
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — to play on
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mark — a trace
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cap — a hat

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