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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kick — in football
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — a subject
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. field — farmland
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. tear — from crying
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tear — to rip
  16. chest — a box
  17. stand — to bear
  18. dip — to sink
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. field — for sport
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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