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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. field — farmland
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bear — the animal
  6. field — for sport
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. mug — a face
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. mug — a cup
  17. plane — a tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mug — to rob
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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