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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mark — a grade
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. fall — to drop
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. lie — to recline
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. spring — of water
  16. hand — help
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mark — a trace
  22. spring — the season
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hide — to keep secret

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