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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: cold · bound · mine · lean · can · tear · stand · bat

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. can — a tin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. can — a tin
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. lean — to bend
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. lean — thin
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. stand — to bear
  13. bound — tied together
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. can — to be able to
  18. tear — from crying
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bound — obliged
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bound — certain
  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