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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wind — moving air
  3. field — a subject
  4. ball — a great time
  5. chest — of your body
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. chest — a box
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. season — of the year
  12. field — for sport
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. wind — moving air
  16. season — in sport
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. field — farmland
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. ball — a dance
  24. straw — dry grass

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