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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. last — to go on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. field — for sport
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. band — a ring
  10. stand — to bear
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. field — farmland
  13. pop — music
  14. field — a subject
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pop — soda
  18. tear — to rip
  19. last — finally
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. band — a music group
  22. bat — the animal
  23. last — final
  24. pop — to visit

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