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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 · bore · shower · field · branch · pass · foot · bat

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. foot — a measure
  8. tear — to rip
  9. shower — rain
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to drill
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. pass — a permit
  18. field — farmland
  19. branch — a division
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. field — for sport
  24. bat — the animal

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