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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 to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. field — a subject
  4. bound — certain
  5. field — for sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. field — farmland
  10. bound — tied together
  11. kick — in football
  12. court — of a king
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chest — of your body
  16. file — a tool
  17. chest — a box
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. swing — in golf
  20. dip — to sink
  21. court — for sport
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. court — of law
  24. bound — obliged

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