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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. pass — a permit
  7. vault — a safe
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. march — the month
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. field — farmland
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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