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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. field — a subject
  3. object — to protest
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. season — in sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. present — the time now
  10. object — an aim
  11. field — farmland
  12. object — a thing
  13. season — of the year
  14. ground — the earth
  15. tear — from crying
  16. present — a gift
  17. tear — to rip
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. present — there
  20. shower — rain
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. field — for sport
  24. ground — a position

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