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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. band — a ring
  5. field — for sport
  6. game — wild animals
  7. field — farmland
  8. craft — a skill
  9. rock — a stone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. craft — boats
  12. field — a subject
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. rock — music
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — an illness
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. tear — from crying
  21. net — for catching
  22. game — a match
  23. net — after costs
  24. net — in sport

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