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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: tear · trunk · fine · stand · cell · pound · bat · calf

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pound — a weight
  5. fine — all right
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. cell — a phone
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. fine — high quality
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. stand — to bear
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cell — in biology
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. calf — a young 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