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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 116 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. last — to go on
  5. pit — a hole
  6. field — a subject
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. last — final
  13. game — a match
  14. field — farmland
  15. clip — a video
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — for sport
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. vault — a safe
  22. last — finally
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. tear — to rip

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