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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 · pitcher · hand · cell · plane · foot · row · coach

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. row — a line
  12. row — to paddle
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. hand — help
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. tear — from crying
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. hand — in cards
  21. foot — a measure
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pitcher — a jug

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