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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. deal — to handle
  2. field — a subject
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. tear — to rip
  12. field — farmland
  13. spell — a short time
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. field — for sport
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spell — magic
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. spell — letters
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. bat — the animal
  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