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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. tear — from crying
  3. club — a group
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spell — letters
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. field — farmland
  8. rash — hasty
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. rash — a series
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. spell — a short time
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. club — for golf
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. field — for sport
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spell — magic
  23. pass — a permit
  24. field — a subject

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