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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: court · object · craft · bat · patient · tear · ball · pound

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a dance
  6. court — of law
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. pound — a weight
  9. object — to protest
  10. tear — to rip
  11. craft — a skill
  12. object — a thing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. court — of a king
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. court — for sport
  17. craft — boats
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. object — an aim

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