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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — a subject
  3. saw — the tool
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. field — for sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. saw — the tool
  19. field — farmland
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. tear — to rip
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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