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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: fall · tear · bear · wind · hide · hand · net · bat

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. net — in sport
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fall — to drop
  7. hand — help
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. net — after costs
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bear — the animal
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — the season
  20. bat — the animal
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. net — for catching

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