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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 · wave · field · mouse · perch · court · pass · file

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pass — a permit
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. tear — from crying
  9. file — a document
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. court — of a king
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. court — of law
  17. perch — the fish
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. field — farmland
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. court — for sport
  23. field — for sport
  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