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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 sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. rock — music
  4. mate — a friend
  5. chest — of your body
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. chest — a box
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. deal — to handle
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rock — a stone
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. field — farmland
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. scale — in music
  21. mate — a partner
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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