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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. field — farmland
  8. cell — a phone
  9. row — a line
  10. field — for sport
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. field — a subject
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. row — to paddle
  18. sharp — clever
  19. band — a ring
  20. cell — in biology
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a music group
  23. stand — to bear
  24. temple — a place of worship

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