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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. field — for sport
  5. rush — hurry
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. spell — letters
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. spell — magic
  10. tear — from crying
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spell — a short time
  17. object — an aim
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. tear — from crying
  21. field — farmland
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. object — to protest
  24. object — a thing

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