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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. 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. field — for sport
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wound — an injury
  4. swing — to play on
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. scale — size or range
  7. swing — music
  8. saw — the tool
  9. season — of the year
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. season — in sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. tear — from crying
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. scale — in music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. 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