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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. stand — to bear
  3. spell — letters
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. stock — shares
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. tear — to rip
  9. rash — hasty
  10. field — a subject
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pop — to visit
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — farmland
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. tear — from crying
  17. field — for sport
  18. rash — a series
  19. spell — magic
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pop — soda
  22. stock — goods
  23. pop — music
  24. tear — from crying

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