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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: chair · lie · mark · march · straw · field · can · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. field — farmland
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. field — for sport
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. field — a subject
  12. tear — from crying
  13. march — the month
  14. can — to be able to
  15. chair — a leader
  16. lie — to recline
  17. march — music
  18. tear — to rip
  19. can — a tin
  20. mark — a grade
  21. march — the month
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. can — a tin
  24. mark — a trace

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