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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: tear · cap · pop · stand · wound · sharp · bat · bound

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bound — certain
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. cap — of ice
  9. pop — soda
  10. sharp — clever
  11. pop — to visit
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. stand — to bear
  15. bound — tied together
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bound — obliged
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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