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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. fine — all right
  5. tear — to rip
  6. land — ground
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cell — a phone
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cue — for pool
  13. field — farmland
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fine — high quality
  16. land — a country
  17. wound — an injury
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cue — a signal
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cue — a hint

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