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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. tear — to rip
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fall — the season
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. field — for sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. row — to paddle
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fall — to drop
  23. row — a line
  24. game — a match

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