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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cold — an illness
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — hasty
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. mate — a partner
  11. field — for sport
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — a subject
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. field — farmland
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rash — a series
  22. kick — in football
  23. mate — a friend
  24. arm — a part of something

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