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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. field — for sport
  4. face — to point toward
  5. field — farmland
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chest — of your body
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. tear — from crying
  10. club — for golf
  11. field — a subject
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bear — the animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. club — for dancing
  17. bear — the animal
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to confront
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. date — the fruit

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