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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. field — a subject
  8. tear — from crying
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. mark — a grade
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bore — to tire
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bore — to drill
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bat — the animal
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mark — to pay attention

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