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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — part of the head
  4. field — for sport
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. field — farmland
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. clip — a video
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. stand — to bear
  14. field — a subject
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — to tease
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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