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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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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: swing · bound · rock · tear · ball · bat · track · kid

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bound — certain
  3. swing — in golf
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bound — tied together
  7. ball — a great time
  8. rock — music
  9. track — a song
  10. track — a path
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. swing — music
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. track — to keep track
  17. tear — to rip
  18. kid — child
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bound — obliged
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bat — the animal

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