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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mate — to breed
  3. field — a subject
  4. mate — a partner
  5. can — to be able to
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rest — what's left
  8. mate — a friend
  9. field — for sport
  10. can — a tin
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. track — a song
  14. can — a tin
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rest — what's left
  18. file — a tool
  19. rest — a break
  20. clip — to cut
  21. field — farmland
  22. tear — to rip
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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