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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. tear — from crying
  4. net — after costs
  5. field — farmland
  6. bear — the animal
  7. object — a thing
  8. object — to protest
  9. fork — in a road
  10. tear — to rip
  11. field — a subject
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. file — a line of people
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. tear — from crying
  18. net — in sport
  19. bear — the animal
  20. object — an aim
  21. file — a tool
  22. last — finally
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. file — a document

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