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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 116 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. lean — thin
  4. kick — in football
  5. field — for sport
  6. spell — magic
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rash — hasty
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bat — the animal
  12. squash — to crush
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. squash — the sport
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. spell — letters
  20. field — farmland
  21. lean — to bend
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. spell — a short time
  24. rash — a series

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