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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cap — a hat
  3. field — farmland
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cap — a lid
  6. field — a subject
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. pit — a hole
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. prune — to trim
  13. face — to confront
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. pit — in a race
  16. cap — of ice
  17. face — part of the head
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. vault — a safe
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. field — for sport
  24. face — to point toward

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