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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. court — for sport
  5. lie — to recline
  6. court — of a king
  7. field — a subject
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. can — a tin
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — to be able to
  15. field — farmland
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. court — of law
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. tear — from crying
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. field — for sport

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