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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. track — to keep track
  3. capital — money
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. season — in sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. track — a song
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chair — a leader
  13. capital — a city
  14. field — a subject
  15. rock — music
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. tear — from crying
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. track — a path
  21. rock — a stone
  22. field — for sport
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. season — of the year

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