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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 120 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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. pitch — completely
  3. net — in sport
  4. saw — the tool
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. cold — an illness
  7. field — farmland
  8. bear — the animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. cold — not warm
  16. net — for catching
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. field — for sport
  22. bear — the animal
  23. net — after costs
  24. field — a subject

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