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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. last — final
  5. fork — in a road
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. charge — a price
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. tube — a container
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tear — to rip
  16. last — finally
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. charge — in control
  21. charge — electricity
  22. tear — from crying
  23. field — for sport
  24. last — to go on

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