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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. lean — thin
  4. present — there
  5. present — a gift
  6. key — for a lock
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. field — farmland
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. field — a subject
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. present — the time now
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — in music
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. lean — to bend
  23. tear — from crying
  24. field — for sport

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