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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. content — happy
  3. tear — from crying
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. last — finally
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. club — a group
  9. club — for dancing
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. tear — to rip
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bear — the animal
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. tear — from crying
  16. last — final
  17. spell — letters
  18. content — the amount
  19. bear — the animal
  20. spell — magic
  21. field — farmland
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. club — for golf
  24. spell — a short time

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