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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. march — the month
  2. field — for sport
  3. march — the month
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — hurry
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cold — not warm
  14. march — music
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. board — to get on
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. board — a committee
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. field — farmland
  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