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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. land — to come down
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. land — a country
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wound — an injury
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. lean — thin
  17. field — farmland
  18. land — ground
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cell — in biology
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. lean — to bend

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