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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. rock — a stone
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. field — a subject
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. field — for sport
  12. rock — music
  13. field — farmland
  14. mate — to breed
  15. craft — boats
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. craft — a skill
  20. mate — a partner
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cell — a phone
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cell — in biology

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