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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  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. foot — a measure
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. field — for sport
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. rock — music
  11. clip — for paper
  12. field — a subject
  13. ground — a position
  14. clip — a video
  15. ground — crushed
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. ground — the earth
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. chair — a leader
  20. rock — a stone
  21. field — farmland
  22. tear — to rip
  23. foot — the bottom
  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