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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. spring — a coil
  3. field — a subject
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. land — a country
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. club — a group
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. pass — a permit
  11. spring — the season
  12. bat — the animal
  13. land — to come down
  14. club — for dancing
  15. field — for sport
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. field — farmland
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spring — of water
  23. club — for golf
  24. land — ground

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