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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: patient · bat · lie · track · band · trunk · wound · tear

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. band — a ring
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lie — to recline
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bat — the animal
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. track — to keep track
  21. band — a music group
  22. track — a song
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. tear — to rip

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