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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. present — a gift
  3. face — to point toward
  4. field — farmland
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — a country
  7. face — part of the head
  8. bound — tied together
  9. tear — to rip
  10. deal — to handle
  11. face — to confront
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — to come down
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — for sport
  16. present — the time now
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bound — certain
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. tear — from crying
  22. present — there
  23. bound — obliged
  24. wound — an injury

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