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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. spring — of water
  6. field — farmland
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. spring — the season
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. stand — to bear
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to sink
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. spring — a coil
  22. field — a subject
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — not warm

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