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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. charge — a price
  3. field — farmland
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — a subject
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. charge — in control
  11. bound — certain
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — for sport
  18. bound — obliged
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. charge — electricity
  22. wind — moving air
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tear — from crying

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