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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: cold · hide · field · bulb · plane · mark · dip · tear

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. field — for sport
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. plane — a tool
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. field — farmland
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — an illness
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. mark — a grade
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. field — a subject
  24. bulb — of a plant

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