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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fall — to drop
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. fall — to drop
  6. court — of law
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. march — the month
  9. wind — moving air
  10. march — music
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. field — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — for sport
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. lean — thin
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — the season
  24. lean — to bend

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