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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 120 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: rock · wound · hand · deal · tear · foot · bat · rash

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. rash — hasty
  7. hand — help
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. hand — in cards
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rock — music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rock — a stone
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. rash — a series
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. rash — on the skin

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