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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 124 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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. field — a subject
  3. tear — from crying
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. race — a contest
  8. suit — to fit
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. suit — clothes
  14. kick — in football
  15. race — the arms race
  16. tear — to rip
  17. race — humankind
  18. wake — a trail

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