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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. tear — from crying
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. field — a subject
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bulb — for light
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — to rip
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tear — from crying
  11. current — of water
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. current — happening now
  14. bat — the animal
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. current — electric
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bulb — for light
  21. field — farmland
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. hand — help
  24. saw — the tool

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