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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. net — in sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. tear — from crying
  6. field — farmland
  7. tear — from crying
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bound — tied together
  11. net — for catching
  12. field — for sport
  13. squash — the sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. bound — obliged
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — a subject
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bound — certain

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