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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. pop — soda
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cap — a hat
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pop — music
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. field — farmland
  12. land — a country
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. cap — a lid
  15. land — ground
  16. field — for sport
  17. land — to come down
  18. wound — an injury
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cap — of ice
  21. pop — to visit
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — a subject

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