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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. field — for sport
  6. stand — to bear
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rash — a series
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fine — all right
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fine — high quality
  24. rash — on the skin

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