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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. field — for sport
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. tear — to rip
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. tear — from crying
  11. plane — a tool
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bear — the animal
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. field — farmland
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. field — a subject

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