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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 124 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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fall — to drop
  3. field — a subject
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. deal — to handle
  6. field — farmland
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. mate — a friend
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. mate — to breed
  12. bass — the fish
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. field — for sport
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bass — low music
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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