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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 120 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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. mine — for digging
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chest — of your body
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. tear — to rip
  7. band — a ring
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. chest — a box
  10. perch — the fish
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. tear — from crying
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. band — a music group
  23. field — a subject
  24. tear — from crying

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