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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · deal · field · wake · march · tear

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. tear — from crying
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. tear — to rip
  6. field — farmland
  7. march — the month
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. field — for sport
  12. march — music
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. tear — from crying
  15. march — the month
  16. field — a subject
  17. deal — to handle
  18. kid — child

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