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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. snap — to click
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. wound — an injury
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. sharp — clever
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bore — to tire
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. tear — to rip
  19. file — a document
  20. tear — from crying
  21. field — for sport
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bore — to drill
  24. field — a subject

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