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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — a partner
  4. object — an aim
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. object — a thing
  9. bore — to tire
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fork — in a road
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. mate — to breed
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to drill
  21. field — a subject
  22. object — to protest
  23. wound — an injury
  24. straw — dry grass

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