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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. field — farmland
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. prune — to trim
  10. perch — the fish
  11. tear — from crying
  12. shower — rain
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. tube — a container
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tube — the underground
  18. prune — to trim
  19. field — a subject
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. wind — moving air
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bowl — a dish

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