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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. field — farmland
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. wake — a trail
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. march — the month
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. field — a subject
  13. chest — of your body
  14. march — music
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. field — for sport
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. march — the month
  24. bowl — to roll

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