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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. field — a subject
  3. season — of the year
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. field — farmland
  7. sharp — clever
  8. present — there
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. perch — the fish
  11. present — the time now
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bat — the animal
  14. season — in sport
  15. pitch — completely
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. field — for sport
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. perch — for a bird

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