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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. can — a tin
  4. field — for sport
  5. swing — music
  6. tear — to rip
  7. can — to be able to
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. tear — from crying
  10. field — a subject
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. tear — from crying
  13. swing — to play on
  14. scale — in music
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. can — a tin
  22. swing — in golf
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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