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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bass — low music
  4. field — a subject
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. net — for catching
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. net — after costs
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bass — the fish
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. net — in sport
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. perch — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. tear — from crying
  20. field — for sport
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. field — farmland
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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