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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. field — a subject
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. chest — of your body
  5. swing — in golf
  6. chip — for betting
  7. field — farmland
  8. swing — to play on
  9. stock — shares
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. fall — the season
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. field — for sport
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. swing — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. stock — goods
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. fall — to drop
  22. chip — to eat
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. straw — a straw man

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