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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. field — farmland
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. band — a ring
  7. game — a match
  8. swing — in golf
  9. net — in sport
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. game — wild animals
  12. net — after costs
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. swing — music
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. swing — to play on
  19. shower — to wash
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. net — for catching
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. band — a music group

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