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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. bat — the animal
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pitch — completely
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. field — farmland
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. pit — a hole
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. root — the cause
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. root — of a word
  16. root — of a plant
  17. field — for sport
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pit — in a race
  21. date — the fruit
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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