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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. field — farmland
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. field — a subject
  6. pound — a weight
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. mug — a face
  11. bore — to tire
  12. mug — to rob
  13. march — the month
  14. bore — to drill
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mug — a cup
  18. bat — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. field — for sport
  23. march — music
  24. bat — for baseball

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