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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — rain
  7. cold — an illness
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. firm — decided
  11. court — of a king
  12. field — a subject
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. court — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. firm — steady
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — of law
  23. stand — to bear
  24. wake — a trail

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