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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. field — farmland
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. shower — rain
  7. field — for sport
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. land — ground
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. face — part of the head
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. tear — to rip
  21. pass — a permit
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chest — a box
  24. field — a subject

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