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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. field — for sport
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — of ice
  6. wound — an injury
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — a subject
  10. branch — a division
  11. cap — a lid
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — of water
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. wound — an injury
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cap — a hat
  18. spring — a coil
  19. date — the fruit
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. spring — the season
  23. tear — from crying
  24. dip — to sink

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