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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: cue · ground · saw · tear · rash · march · hide · bat

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cue — a signal
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. ground — crushed
  8. march — the month
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — hasty
  14. tear — from crying
  15. ground — the earth
  16. cue — a hint
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. march — the month
  21. cue — for pool
  22. march — music
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bat — for baseball

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