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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. roll — a cake
  3. field — a subject
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. spell — letters
  6. field — for sport
  7. tear — to rip
  8. field — farmland
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. present — a gift
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. spell — magic
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. mine — for digging
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. spell — a short time
  20. present — there
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. present — the time now
  23. tear — from crying
  24. roll — a list

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