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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fall — the season
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fall — to drop
  8. tube — a container
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — farmland
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. fall — to drop
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. tube — the underground
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. lean — to bend

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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