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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. field — farmland
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. key — for a lock
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. key — the most important part
  11. field — a subject
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. rash — a series
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. mine — for digging
  17. dip — to sink
  18. field — for sport
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — hasty
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. key — in music

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