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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: pitcher · last · kick · dip · field · spell · tear · object

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. tear — from crying
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. spell — letters
  8. field — farmland
  9. tear — to rip
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — finally
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. object — an aim
  17. last — to go on
  18. spell — magic
  19. dip — to sink
  20. object — to protest
  21. field — a subject
  22. object — a thing
  23. last — final
  24. kick — in football

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