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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. kid — to tease
  3. field — a subject
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. face — to point toward
  6. field — for sport
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. face — to confront
  10. lean — to bend
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. field — farmland
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. kid — child
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. band — a music group
  24. face — part of the head

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