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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. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — for sport
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. club — for dancing
  7. suit — to fit
  8. club — a group
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. club — for golf
  12. suit — in cards
  13. sharp — clever
  14. plane — a tool
  15. fall — to drop
  16. field — a subject
  17. tear — to rip
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a city
  23. field — farmland
  24. sharp — with an edge

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