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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wound — an injury
  4. root — of a word
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rest — a break
  7. root — the cause
  8. tear — from crying
  9. field — farmland
  10. fall — the season
  11. root — of a plant
  12. field — for sport
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. fall — to drop
  15. present — a gift
  16. field — a subject
  17. rest — what's left
  18. kid — child
  19. wound — an injury
  20. present — there
  21. rest — what's left
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. tear — from crying

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