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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. cue — a hint
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cue — for pool
  8. season — in sport
  9. field — for sport
  10. present — a gift
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wound — an injury
  13. present — the time now
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cue — a signal
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. present — there
  23. field — a subject
  24. season — of the year

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