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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. field — farmland
  5. mate — to breed
  6. face — part of the head
  7. field — a subject
  8. face — to confront
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — in a road
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. tear — to rip
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. shower — rain
  16. mate — a friend
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. field — for sport
  22. mate — a partner
  23. face — to point toward
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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