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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bear — the animal
  3. field — a subject
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. tear — to rip
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. shower — to wash
  9. court — of law
  10. field — for sport
  11. pound — a weight
  12. court — of a king
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — rain
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. court — for sport
  17. saw — the tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. perch — the fish
  21. saw — the tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. field — farmland
  24. bear — the animal

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