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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. field — a subject
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. mark — a trace
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. tear — from crying
  9. date — the fruit
  10. field — for sport
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. foot — a measure
  15. mark — a grade
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. field — farmland
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wake — a trail
  23. tear — to rip
  24. date — on the calendar

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