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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rock — music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a dance
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. rock — a stone
  10. tear — to rip
  11. field — a subject
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. field — for sport
  15. vault — a safe
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. ground — crushed
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. ground — a position
  21. wound — an injury
  22. field — farmland
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. wound — an injury

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