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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 116 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — for sport
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. race — the arms race
  6. last — finally
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. tear — from crying
  10. field — a subject
  11. present — a gift
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. last — to go on
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. field — farmland
  17. last — final
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. tear — to rip
  21. present — the time now
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. present — there

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