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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: tear · leaves · mate · pop · field · rest · kid · deal

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. field — for sport
  4. pop — to visit
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. deal — to handle
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. mate — to breed
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — farmland
  16. pop — soda
  17. mate — a friend
  18. rest — a break
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rest — what's left
  21. field — a subject
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. pop — music

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