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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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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: bat · mouse · tear · hand · wound · game · mug · cap

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mug — a face
  7. tear — to rip
  8. game — wild animals
  9. hand — help
  10. game — a match
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bat — the animal
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mug — a cup
  18. cap — of ice
  19. hand — in cards
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. mug — to rob
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wound — an injury
  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