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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. hand — in cards
  3. field — a subject
  4. hand — help
  5. field — farmland
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mate — a friend
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mate — a partner
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. mate — to breed
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. field — for sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — to go on
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. tear — from crying
  22. last — final
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. last — finally

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