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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. field — for sport
  3. kid — to tease
  4. field — farmland
  5. lean — thin
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. shower — rain
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — high quality
  12. pit — a hole
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. kid — child
  16. wound — an injury
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. lean — to bend
  23. field — a subject
  24. pit — in a race

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