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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. scale — size or range
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. field — farmland
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. dip — to sink
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. scale — in music
  18. wave — a sudden rise

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