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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. foot — a measure
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. swing — in golf
  8. stock — goods
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. chest — a box
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stock — shares
  20. chest — of your body
  21. swing — music
  22. rush — hurry
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. chest — of your body

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