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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — farmland
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. field — for sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. fine — all right
  11. bat — the animal
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. can — a tin
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. can — a tin
  20. field — a subject
  21. can — to be able to
  22. fine — high quality
  23. shower — rain
  24. pitch — completely

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