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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. swing — in golf
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wind — moving air
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — music
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. field — a subject
  20. tear — to rip
  21. field — for sport
  22. fine — high quality
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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