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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: wound · mate · foot · game · field · rock · tear · capital

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. capital — money
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rock — a stone
  6. game — a match
  7. tear — from crying
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. tear — from crying
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mate — a partner
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. field — a subject
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. field — for sport
  17. foot — a measure
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — to breed
  21. rock — music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — farmland
  24. capital — a city

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