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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. last — to go on
  5. tear — to rip
  6. face — to confront
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. field — for sport
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. last — final
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. face — to point toward
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. tear — from crying
  16. season — of the year
  17. last — finally
  18. face — part of the head
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. field — a subject
  23. saw — the tool
  24. field — farmland

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