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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 116 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — a subject
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. field — for sport
  6. swing — in golf
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. hand — help
  11. bound — certain
  12. swing — music
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. tear — to rip
  17. lie — to recline
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bound — obliged
  20. tear — from crying
  21. field — farmland
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bound — tied together
  24. lie — an untruth

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