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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 116 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — in football
  3. ground — the earth
  4. face — part of the head
  5. land — ground
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. press — to push
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. tear — to rip
  14. field — farmland
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. face — to confront
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. field — for sport
  19. tear — from crying
  20. press — newspapers
  21. field — a subject
  22. press — a publisher
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. face — to point toward

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