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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bear — the animal
  8. field — a subject
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. saw — the tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. sharp — clever
  21. field — farmland
  22. bear — the animal
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. degree — from a university

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