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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. band — a music group
  5. field — farmland
  6. spring — the season
  7. game — a match
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. field — a subject
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — in music
  12. pit — in a race
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pit — a hole
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. spring — of water
  17. field — for sport
  18. spring — a coil
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a ring
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. game — wild animals

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