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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: bat · clip · tear · foot · fall · kick · object · row

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. tear — from crying
  3. row — to paddle
  4. object — an aim
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tear — from crying
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — to cut
  13. foot — a measure
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. object — to protest
  21. tear — to rip
  22. object — a thing
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bat — in an idiom

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