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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 120 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — crushed
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. field — for sport
  7. ground — a position
  8. deal — to handle
  9. field — a subject
  10. net — after costs
  11. field — farmland
  12. net — in sport
  13. ground — the earth
  14. scale — in music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. scale — size or range
  17. net — for catching
  18. tear — to rip

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