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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: coach · snap · rock · bat · tear · file · land · stand

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. file — a line of people
  3. stand — to bear
  4. snap — to click
  5. rock — music
  6. file — a tool
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. tear — to rip
  10. land — ground
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. tear — from crying
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. file — a document
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. rock — a stone
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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