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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. can — to be able to
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. clip — for paper
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. tear — from crying
  9. can — a tin
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. clip — to cut
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. field — a subject
  14. mine — for digging
  15. stand — to bear
  16. field — for sport
  17. tear — to rip
  18. clip — a video
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. field — farmland
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. can — a tin

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