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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. season — of the year
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. field — a subject
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. season — in sport
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. kid — to tease
  18. board — a committee
  19. kid — child
  20. board — to get on
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. cabinet — ministers

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