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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 120 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: saw · patient · track · tear · pound · bat · court · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. saw — the tool
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cap — of ice
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. track — a path
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. court — for sport
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cap — a lid
  15. court — of a king
  16. track — a song
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. court — of law
  20. bat — the animal
  21. tear — from crying
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. track — to keep track
  24. pound — a weight

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