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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. fine — high quality
  7. pit — in a race
  8. fine — all right
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. mine — for digging
  12. field — farmland
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. capital — a city
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. capital — money
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. pit — a hole
  24. straw — a straw man

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