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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — for sport
  3. file — a line of people
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wind — moving air
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. field — a subject
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. field — farmland
  19. file — a document
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wind — moving air

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