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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. field — for sport
  3. rash — a series
  4. mug — to rob
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. field — a subject
  16. mug — a face
  17. branch — a division
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. field — farmland
  20. rash — hasty
  21. snap — to click
  22. mug — a cup
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a hole

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