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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 120 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mine — for digging
  4. object — an aim
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. present — there
  7. dip — to sink
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. field — a subject
  12. object — a thing
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. present — the time now
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. field — for sport
  17. present — a gift
  18. field — farmland

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