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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tear · field · shower · pitch · bass · fine · row · squash

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. shower — rain
  3. tear — to rip
  4. row — a line
  5. bass — low music
  6. field — for sport
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. field — a subject
  9. fine — all right
  10. pitch — completely
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. fine — high quality
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — the fish
  19. tear — from crying
  20. squash — to crush
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. squash — the sport
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. squash — the vegetable

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