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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 116 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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. field — a subject
  3. spring — of water
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bank — of a river
  7. spring — the season
  8. file — a tool
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bank — for money
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. field — for sport
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cell — a phone
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. bank — for money
  19. file — a line of people
  20. cell — in biology
  21. file — a document
  22. spring — a coil
  23. field — farmland
  24. rash — a series

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