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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. field — for sport
  3. ball — a great time
  4. pit — a hole
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. row — to paddle
  9. ball — a dance
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. row — a line
  12. field — a subject
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. tube — the underground
  16. field — farmland
  17. mine — for digging
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. tube — a container
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — in a race

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