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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. drill — army training
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — ground
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. track — a path
  9. wind — moving air
  10. field — for sport
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. field — farmland
  13. land — to come down
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — to rip
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. field — a subject
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a song
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. land — a country
  23. drill — a practice
  24. mouse — 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