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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: cap · bat · spring · temple · swing · mouse · tear · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. tear — from crying
  4. swing — in golf
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. tear — to rip
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — to play on
  14. cap — a lid
  15. bat — the animal
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. tear — from crying
  18. kid — child
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spring — of water

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