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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — not warm
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. face — to point toward
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. face — to confront
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. face — part of the head
  20. kid — child
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. deal — to handle

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