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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mug — to rob
  4. season — of the year
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. mug — a face
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. land — ground
  13. field — a subject
  14. land — a country
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. rule — government
  17. field — farmland
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. mug — a cup
  22. rule — a law
  23. rash — a series
  24. season — in sport

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