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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. field — a subject
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. swing — music
  9. field — for sport
  10. fine — high quality
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fine — all right
  15. wake — a trail
  16. field — farmland
  17. mine — for digging
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — in golf
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. straw — a straw man

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