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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. field — farmland
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bass — the fish
  6. field — a subject
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — in a race
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bound — certain
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cold — an illness
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. mate — a partner
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. bass — low music
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — tied together
  20. mate — a friend
  21. field — for sport
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. cold — not warm

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