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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. content — the amount
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. field — farmland
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitch — completely
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. field — a subject
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. field — for sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. lie — to recline
  18. content — happy
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — a thing
  21. object — to protest
  22. hand — help
  23. bat — the animal
  24. hand — in cards

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