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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: court · drill · wound · tear · fan · stick · rush · field

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. wound — an injury
  3. drill — army training
  4. court — for sport
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. field — a subject
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. field — for sport
  13. drill — the tool
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. wound — an injury
  16. drill — a practice
  17. field — farmland
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. rush — hurry
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. court — of law
  23. tear — from crying
  24. court — of a king

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