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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — an injury
  7. field — for sport
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. rest — a break
  12. field — a subject
  13. rock — a stone
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rest — what's left
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pit — a hole
  22. stand — to bear
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rock — music

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