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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. mark — a trace
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. field — farmland
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — tied together
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. field — for sport
  12. pass — a permit
  13. tear — to rip
  14. dip — to sink
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — from crying
  17. field — a subject
  18. mark — a grade
  19. ball — a dance
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bound — certain
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. dip — a sauce

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