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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. field — for sport
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. tube — the underground
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cue — a signal
  8. field — farmland
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. cue — for pool
  13. field — a subject
  14. sharp — clever
  15. row — a line
  16. cue — a hint
  17. tube — a container
  18. wound — an injury
  19. net — in sport
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. season — of the year
  22. row — to paddle
  23. season — in sport
  24. sharp — with an edge

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