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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — the time now
  3. field — farmland
  4. deal — to handle
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. cold — not warm
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. cold — an illness
  11. roll — a list
  12. present — there
  13. field — a subject
  14. mark — a trace
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. field — for sport
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. roll — a cake
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mine — for digging
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. lie — to recline

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