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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 124 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. field — a subject
  3. cue — for pool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. lean — thin
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cue — a signal
  11. swing — in golf
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bound — obliged
  14. swing — to play on
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bound — tied together
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bound — certain
  21. cold — not warm
  22. field — for sport
  23. swing — music
  24. field — farmland

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