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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. field — a subject
  3. wound — an injury
  4. tear — from crying
  5. field — for sport
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. tear — to rip
  8. last — finally
  9. saw — the tool
  10. track — to keep track
  11. field — farmland
  12. kick — in football
  13. saw — the tool
  14. last — final
  15. track — a song
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. track — a path
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. tear — from crying
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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