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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: ground · hide · straw · stick · spell · bat · tear · chip

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. tear — from crying
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spell — magic
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chip — to eat
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. spell — letters
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. ground — a position
  14. chip — for betting
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spell — a short time
  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