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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. land — ground
  5. field — a subject
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bear — the animal
  8. mug — a cup
  9. mug — to rob
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chest — of your body
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. mug — a face
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. bear — the animal
  18. wind — moving air

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