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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. tear — from crying
  4. field — for sport
  5. tear — to rip
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fall — to drop
  12. drill — the tool
  13. fall — to drop
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. fall — the season
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. drill — a practice
  19. mine — for digging
  20. tear — from crying
  21. snap — to click
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. drill — army training

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