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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. field — farmland
  3. dip — to sink
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. field — a subject
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. chest — of your body
  8. last — final
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. court — of law
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. chest — a box
  13. court — of a king
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. deal — to handle
  17. field — for sport
  18. plane — a tool
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. last — finally
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. court — for sport

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