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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: racket · ruler · tear · cold · mark · root · pound · bat

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pound — a weight
  5. root — of a word
  6. tear — from crying
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. mark — a grade
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. root — the cause
  18. cold — not warm
  19. root — of a plant
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mark — a trace
  23. tear — to rip
  24. racket — for tennis

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