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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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Word bank
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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: field · tear · rule · spring · stick · band

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — a subject
  3. band — a ring
  4. spring — a coil
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. spring — of water
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. spring — the season
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. band — a music group
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — government
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. tear — to rip

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