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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: last · field · net · stand · object · tear · fall · kid

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — from crying
  5. last — finally
  6. net — for catching
  7. object — a thing
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — final
  10. object — an aim
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. fall — the season
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. net — after costs
  19. tear — to rip
  20. net — in sport
  21. object — to protest
  22. field — a subject
  23. kid — child
  24. fall — to drop

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