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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: ground · bear · cap · swing · bat · degree · bank · tear

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. tear — to rip
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. tear — from crying
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — music
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bank — for money
  14. bear — the animal
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. swing — to play on
  18. ground — the earth
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ground — a position
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bank — for money
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bank — of a river

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