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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. field — a subject
  4. last — finally
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. swing — to play on
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. pit — in a race
  9. mine — for digging
  10. swing — in golf
  11. field — for sport
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. swing — music
  14. face — to confront
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. face — part of the head
  19. last — final
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. last — to go on
  22. face — to point toward
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. field — farmland

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