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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mate — to breed
  4. roll — a list
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. present — the time now
  10. mate — a partner
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. present — a gift
  15. mate — a friend
  16. present — there
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. field — farmland
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. arm — a part of something

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