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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. perch — the fish
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. game — a match
  15. stand — to bear
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rock — a stone
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. field — for sport
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rock — music
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. game — a kind of play

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