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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 116 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. field — farmland
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spell — magic
  8. mine — for digging
  9. march — the month
  10. field — a subject
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. march — the month
  15. pass — a permit
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — obliged
  18. file — a tool
  19. march — music
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — letters
  22. bound — certain
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. tear — to rip

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