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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. mark — a trace
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. field — a subject
  6. ground — a position
  7. chest — of your body
  8. field — farmland
  9. mark — a grade
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. ground — the earth
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. field — for sport
  15. chest — a box
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. chest — of your body
  18. toast — the most admired

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