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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. mark — a grade
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. saw — the tool
  5. field — a subject
  6. prune — to trim
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. saw — the tool
  9. deal — to handle
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. mark — a trace
  14. prune — to trim
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. game — a match
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. field — farmland
  21. fine — all right
  22. field — for sport
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. game — wild animals

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