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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. bark — to shout
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. ground — a position
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. field — for sport
  11. shower — to wash
  12. ground — the earth
  13. tear — to rip
  14. branch — a division
  15. tear — from crying
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. tear — from crying
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. shower — rain
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. temple — side of the head

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