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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. season — of the year
  4. band — a ring
  5. tear — from crying
  6. clip — for paper
  7. field — a subject
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. season — in sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — to rip
  14. clip — to cut
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. clip — a video
  17. band — a music group
  18. field — farmland
  19. squash — the sport
  20. degree — an amount
  21. fine — all right
  22. field — for sport
  23. fine — high quality
  24. squash — to crush

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