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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. can — to be able to
  4. field — a subject
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. rock — music
  7. rock — a stone
  8. field — farmland
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — not warm
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. toast — bread
  14. field — for sport
  15. game — wild animals
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cold — an illness
  18. can — a tin
  19. game — a match
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. can — a tin

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