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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: pit · straw · tear · face · foot · cap · branch · hand

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. foot — a measure
  3. cap — a hat
  4. face — part of the head
  5. hand — help
  6. face — to confront
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cap — of ice
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pit — in a race
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. pit — a hole
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cap — a lid
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. foot — part of the body

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