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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. field — a subject
  3. spell — magic
  4. field — farmland
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. tear — from crying
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. stand — to bear
  9. saw — the tool
  10. tear — from crying
  11. branch — a division
  12. spell — letters
  13. saw — the tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spell — a short time
  16. field — for sport
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. clip — to cut
  19. deal — to handle
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — a video
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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