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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a trace
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. rush — hurry
  9. mark — a grade
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. field — farmland
  12. game — a match
  13. cold — an illness
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rock — a stone
  21. stand — to bear
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cold — not warm
  24. game — wild animals

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