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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. pitch — completely
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. field — for sport
  5. bound — certain
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — moving air
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. season — in sport
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bound — obliged
  13. tear — from crying
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. field — farmland
  17. bound — tied together
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. season — of the year

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