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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: kid · pitcher · saw · tear · bore · wound · pass · bat

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bore — to tire
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. kid — child
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — the animal
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. pass — a permit
  21. bore — to drill
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bat — in an idiom

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