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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. game — a match
  4. track — to keep track
  5. game — wild animals
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. dip — to sink
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. board — a committee
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. track — a song
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. track — a path
  19. rush — hurry
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. tear — to rip
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. board — to get on

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