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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 120 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: mine · tear · bear · plane · field · perch · wind · saw

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. saw — the tool
  4. field — for sport
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. field — farmland
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. tear — to rip
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wind — moving air
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. field — a subject
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. plane — a tool
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. saw — the tool
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. tear — from crying

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