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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. bass — low music
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. rock — a stone
  7. field — farmland
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pound — a weight
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. net — in sport
  12. tear — to rip
  13. net — for catching
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. net — after costs
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bass — the fish
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. sharp — exactly

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