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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rest — a break
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. kick — in football
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. lean — to bend
  8. field — for sport
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. rock — a stone
  12. wound — an injury
  13. field — farmland
  14. land — a country
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. field — a subject
  17. rock — music
  18. land — ground
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. lean — thin
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — what's left
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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