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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — farmland
  3. bear — the animal
  4. face — part of the head
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. cold — an illness
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. face — to point toward
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chest — of your body
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — for sport
  20. face — to confront
  21. shower — rain
  22. chest — a box
  23. field — a subject
  24. shower — to wash

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