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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. tear — to rip
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. land — a country
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. field — for sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. ball — a dance
  9. scale — size or range
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. land — ground
  13. scale — in music
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. field — a subject
  16. ball — a great time
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. field — farmland
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. fork — in a road
  24. mine — for digging

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