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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. field — a subject
  4. cap — a lid
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. field — for sport
  8. rash — a series
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. cold — not warm
  14. field — farmland
  15. mine — for digging
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rash — hasty
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. cap — of ice
  23. chip — to eat
  24. mine — belonging to me

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