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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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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: bass · tear · pitcher · hide · content · lean · bulb · field

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bass — the fish
  3. field — for sport
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. field — farmland
  8. bulb — for light
  9. tear — from crying
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. lean — to bend
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bass — low music
  20. field — a subject
  21. tear — to rip
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. content — happy

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