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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. face — to point toward
  3. field — a subject
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hand — in cards
  7. field — for sport
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rock — music
  10. face — to confront
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. stand — to bear
  14. rock — a stone
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. face — part of the head
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. field — farmland
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. hand — help

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