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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. sharp — clever
  5. field — farmland
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. roll — a cake
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. field — a subject
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. fork — in a road
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. field — for sport
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. roll — a list
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. roll — on a roll

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