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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — a subject
  3. spring — the season
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — help
  6. tear — to rip
  7. spring — of water
  8. chest — of your body
  9. field — for sport
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. board — to get on
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. board — a committee
  18. net — in sport
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. field — farmland
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. chest — a box
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chest — of your body

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