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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bound — tied together
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. shower — to wash
  10. field — a subject
  11. cold — not warm
  12. squash — the sport
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. squash — to crush
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. bound — certain
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bound — obliged
  21. pit — in a race
  22. object — a thing
  23. field — for sport
  24. shower — rain

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