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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. march — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. swing — in golf
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bound — certain
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chest — a box
  15. bound — obliged
  16. field — farmland
  17. pass — a permit
  18. swing — music
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. bound — tied together
  22. swing — to play on
  23. field — a subject
  24. march — the month

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