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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stand — to bear
  3. lean — to bend
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. track — a song
  7. spell — a short time
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. spell — letters
  10. kid — to tease
  11. track — to keep track
  12. game — a match
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. field — a subject
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. lean — thin
  17. spell — magic
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. kid — child
  20. track — a path
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — farmland

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