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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. current — electric
  3. pop — to visit
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. fall — to drop
  7. ground — a position
  8. track — a song
  9. fall — the season
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fall — to drop
  13. current — of water
  14. ground — the earth
  15. kid — child
  16. tear — to rip
  17. track — to keep track
  18. track — a path
  19. current — happening now
  20. ground — crushed
  21. field — a subject
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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