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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. tear — from crying
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. lean — to bend
  8. field — for sport
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. lean — thin
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. net — after costs
  15. field — a subject
  16. net — in sport
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. net — for catching
  20. bark — to shout
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. pit — a hole
  24. field — farmland

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