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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bore — to drill
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bass — low music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. field — for sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. deal — to handle
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tear — from crying
  19. field — a subject
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wind — moving air
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. bass — the fish
  24. field — farmland

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