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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. tear — to rip
  4. field — for sport
  5. stock — shares
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. present — there
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bat — the animal
  16. stock — goods
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. tear — from crying
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. present — a gift
  22. tear — from crying
  23. present — the time now
  24. leaves — to go away

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