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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — farmland
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. tear — to rip
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wake — a trail
  8. mine — for digging
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bear — the animal
  12. cap — a lid
  13. field — a subject
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. perch — the fish
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. bass — the fish
  20. field — for sport
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wake — before a funeral

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