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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. ground — the earth
  2. field — a subject
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — the fish
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bass — low music
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. ground — crushed
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ground — a position
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. field — farmland
  17. straw — dry grass
  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