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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 120 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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. cold — not warm
  3. field — a subject
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lean — thin
  6. field — for sport
  7. lean — to bend
  8. chest — a box
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kick — in football
  12. chest — of your body
  13. suit — clothes
  14. suit — in cards
  15. field — farmland
  16. rest — what's left
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. rest — what's left
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. suit — to fit
  22. rest — a break
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. cold — the Cold War

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