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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. firm — decided
  3. firm — steady
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to click
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bass — the fish
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. field — a subject
  16. firm — a company
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — low music
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. tear — from crying

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