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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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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: dip · cap · wound · field · fine · tear · root · kid

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. field — a subject
  3. kid — child
  4. field — for sport
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cap — a lid
  7. tear — from crying
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — of a word
  10. tear — to rip
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. fine — all right
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. field — farmland
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wound — an injury
  20. root — the cause
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fine — high quality
  23. kid — to tease
  24. dip — a sauce

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