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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: wake · stem · tear · racket · foot · fall · bat · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wake — a trail
  4. tear — to rip
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fall — the season
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. foot — a measure
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. tear — from crying
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. foot — the bottom
  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