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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. march — music
  3. tear — from crying
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. deal — to handle
  6. field — farmland
  7. march — the month
  8. field — a subject
  9. key — for a lock
  10. court — for sport
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — for sport
  13. key — the most important part
  14. court — of law
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — an illness
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. tear — from crying
  23. key — in music
  24. wind — moving air

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