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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. present — a gift
  3. field — farmland
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. spring — the season
  7. field — for sport
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wake — a trail
  19. present — the time now
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. present — there
  22. field — a subject
  23. pound — a weight
  24. spring — of water

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