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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. staff — employees
  3. mate — to breed
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — a subject
  6. spring — of water
  7. rock — a stone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. field — farmland
  10. mate — a partner
  11. toast — bread
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. spring — a coil
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. staff — employees
  16. field — for sport
  17. mate — a friend
  18. spring — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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