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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. shower — rain
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. field — farmland
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — for sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. present — the time now
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pitch — completely
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. present — there
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bore — to tire
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. present — a gift
  24. bore — to drill

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