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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: straw · bat · cell · wound · craft · board · tear · last

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. last — finally
  11. wound — an injury
  12. last — to go on
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. craft — boats
  15. cell — in biology
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. board — to get on
  18. bat — the animal
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. board — a committee
  23. last — final
  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