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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. field — a subject
  3. ball — a dance
  4. can — to be able to
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mine — for digging
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. field — for sport
  11. tear — to rip
  12. clip — to cut
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. clip — a video
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. can — a tin
  22. field — farmland
  23. can — a tin
  24. stand — on your feet

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