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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. field — for sport
  5. mate — a partner
  6. tear — from crying
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mate — a friend
  12. charge — a price
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pitch — completely
  16. charge — in control
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. field — farmland
  20. charge — electricity
  21. mate — to breed
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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