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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. spell — magic
  3. last — final
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. shower — rain
  8. spell — a short time
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tear — to rip
  11. last — finally
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. roll — a cake
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. last — to go on
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. shower — to wash
  23. spell — letters
  24. roll — a list

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