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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. present — a gift
  7. field — a subject
  8. hand — in cards
  9. present — there
  10. field — for sport
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tube — a container
  15. bank — for money
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. hand — help
  18. present — the time now
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. wind — moving air

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