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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. cold — not warm
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — rain
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mine — for digging
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bound — tied together
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — certain
  24. pass — a permit

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