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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. field — for sport
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bound — tied together
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. capital — money
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. field — a subject
  12. row — a line
  13. deal — to handle
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bound — obliged
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bound — certain
  20. row — to paddle
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. field — farmland

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