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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 newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. last — to go on
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. last — finally
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. field — farmland
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. last — final
  10. band — a music group
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bulb — for light
  14. tear — to rip
  15. foot — a measure
  16. tear — from crying
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. field — a subject
  19. band — a ring
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bulb — for light
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. field — for sport

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