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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. swing — music
  3. mate — a friend
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bass — the fish
  8. swing — in golf
  9. field — farmland
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. dip — to sink
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. swing — to play on
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bass — low music
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. nail — for a hammer

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