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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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. wound — an injury
  3. field — a subject
  4. tear — to rip
  5. object — to protest
  6. mate — to breed
  7. field — farmland
  8. object — an aim
  9. mate — a friend
  10. tear — from crying
  11. object — a thing
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mate — a partner
  15. tear — from crying
  16. dip — to sink
  17. field — for sport
  18. dip — a sauce

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