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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. craft — a skill
  3. wind — moving air
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. file — a document
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pass — a permit
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. file — a line of people
  19. craft — boats
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. file — a tool
  23. field — farmland
  24. racket — for tennis

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