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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 120 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. field — farmland
  3. object — to protest
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. rest — a break
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. pit — a hole
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. object — a thing
  11. pit — in a race
  12. lie — to recline
  13. object — an aim
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. rest — what's left
  21. field — for sport
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. field — a subject

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