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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. field — a subject
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mate — to breed
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spring — of water
  7. mate — a partner
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. tear — to rip
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. field — for sport
  16. pitch — completely
  17. spring — the season
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. spring — a coil
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. mate — a friend
  23. scale — size or range
  24. field — farmland

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