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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  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. object — to protest
  2. field — for sport
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. perch — the fish
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — a thing
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. tear — from crying
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. tear — from crying
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. capital — a city
  23. fall — the season
  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