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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to click
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — for digging
  6. track — a song
  7. fall — the season
  8. field — for sport
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. field — a subject
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. track — a path
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chair — a leader
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. field — farmland
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. toast — bread
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. fall — to drop
  24. track — to keep track

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