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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. field — for sport
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. field — farmland
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. current — electric
  8. current — of water
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. roll — a list
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. field — a subject
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. present — a gift
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. tube — the underground
  19. roll — a cake
  20. current — happening now
  21. present — there
  22. present — the time now
  23. tube — a container
  24. roll — on a roll

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