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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: tube · bat · racket · tear · fall · dip · wake · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fall — to drop
  8. tear — from crying
  9. dip — to sink
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. tear — to rip
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. fall — the season
  23. wake — a trail
  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