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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. field — for sport
  3. pop — soda
  4. field — farmland
  5. dip — to sink
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pop — music
  9. rash — hasty
  10. face — to confront
  11. field — a subject
  12. pop — to visit
  13. tear — to rip
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. face — part of the head
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. face — to point toward
  18. rash — a series

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