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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: net · mouse · pitch · bat · ruler · wind · rest · tear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rest — a break
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. pitch — completely
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. net — in sport
  11. tear — to rip
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. rest — what's left
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. bat — the animal

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