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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fall — to drop
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. field — a subject
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tear — from crying
  10. charge — electricity
  11. tear — to rip
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rest — what's left
  14. charge — a price
  15. tube — the underground
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — a break
  18. fall — the season
  19. court — of law
  20. tube — a container
  21. field — farmland
  22. charge — in control
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. field — for sport

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