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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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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 · mate · fall · squash · trunk · nail · straw · field

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. fall — to drop
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. fall — the season
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a friend
  10. field — a subject
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tear — to rip
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. tear — from crying
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. squash — the sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. mate — a partner
  22. field — for sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — to crush

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