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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. present — a gift
  8. field — for sport
  9. present — the time now
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bear — the animal
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. present — there
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. file — a line of people
  18. prune — to trim
  19. file — a tool
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. file — a document

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