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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: tear · sharp · ground · tube · hand · foot · field · wake

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — farmland
  3. ground — the earth
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. tube — a container
  6. field — for sport
  7. sharp — clever
  8. foot — a measure
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. tear — to rip
  12. hand — in cards
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. field — a subject
  20. ground — a position
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. ground — crushed
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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