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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. field — farmland
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. kick — in football
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. present — a gift
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — there
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. present — the time now
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. wave — of the sea

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