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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  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. toast — bread
  2. suit — in cards
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. current — of water
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mate — to breed
  9. chest — a box
  10. suit — to fit
  11. mate — a friend
  12. chest — of your body
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. mate — a partner
  16. season — of the year
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. current — happening now
  19. current — electric
  20. cold — not warm
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — in sport
  23. suit — clothes
  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