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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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Word bank
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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. field — for sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. bear — the animal
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — a subject
  17. rash — hasty
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. field — farmland
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. rash — a series
  24. kick — with a leg

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