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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wound — an injury
  3. field — a subject
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. ground — crushed
  8. field — for sport
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bear — the animal
  12. track — a path
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bear — the animal
  17. tear — to rip
  18. track — to keep track
  19. ground — a position
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. track — a song
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. tear — from crying

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