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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. mine — for digging
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. face — to point toward
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. season — of the year
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. chest — of your body
  10. row — a line
  11. face — to confront
  12. chest — a box
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. sharp — clever
  15. field — for sport
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. season — in sport
  21. chest — of your body
  22. field — farmland
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. row — to paddle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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