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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cap — a hat
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cap — a lid
  6. rule — a law
  7. lean — to bend
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. mark — a trace
  11. field — farmland
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rule — government
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — a subject
  18. mark — a grade
  19. lean — thin
  20. cap — of ice
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. field — for sport

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