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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bark — to shout
  3. field — a subject
  4. tear — from crying
  5. last — finally
  6. field — for sport
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. last — final
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. field — farmland
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — to go on

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