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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: shower · swing · saw · chest · lean · tear · field · stand

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. shower — rain
  3. lean — to bend
  4. swing — in golf
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. saw — the tool
  8. shower — to wash
  9. swing — to play on
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stand — to bear
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. tear — from crying
  15. field — a subject
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. field — farmland
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. tear — to rip
  21. lean — thin
  22. swing — music
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stand — on your feet

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