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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 120 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — a gift
  3. field — farmland
  4. present — there
  5. mine — for digging
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. tear — from crying
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. field — for sport
  11. game — a match
  12. ball — a great time
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. ball — a dance
  15. perch — the fish
  16. tear — to rip
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. field — a subject
  22. game — wild animals
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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