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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: cue · leaves · field · bulb · chest · wound · tear · wind

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bulb — for light
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chest — of your body
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. cue — a hint
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cue — a signal
  13. field — a subject
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. cue — for pool
  21. chest — a box
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. wind — moving air

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