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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. stand — to bear
  3. cell — in biology
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. wound — an injury
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. march — music
  13. field — a subject
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. march — the month
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — a tool
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. cell — a phone
  23. march — the month
  24. wound — an injury

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