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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. spell — letters
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — for sport
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. spell — magic
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. field — farmland
  15. stock — shares
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. branch — a division
  19. saw — the tool
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. spell — a short time
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. branch — of a bank

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