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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. field — farmland
  3. fall — the season
  4. rush — hurry
  5. field — for sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. chest — of your body
  11. board — to get on
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. fall — to drop
  14. board — a committee
  15. field — a subject
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chest — of your body
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mine — for digging
  23. chest — a box
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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