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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 116 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: field · tear · bass · root · bat · march · lie · stand

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. field — farmland
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. march — music
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lie — to recline
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bass — the fish
  11. root — the cause
  12. tear — from crying
  13. field — for sport
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bat — the animal
  16. field — a subject
  17. bass — low music
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. march — the month
  20. root — of a word
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. march — the month
  23. root — of a plant
  24. stand — for spectators

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