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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — farmland
  3. file — a document
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. degree — from a university
  6. perch — the fish
  7. saw — the tool
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bear — the animal
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. field — a subject
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. file — a line of people
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. file — a tool
  21. field — for sport
  22. bear — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. degree — an amount

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