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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. swing — in golf
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. field — farmland
  5. pit — in a race
  6. cold — an illness
  7. field — a subject
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. field — for sport
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — not warm
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fan — a supporter

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