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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. land — to come down
  4. cold — an illness
  5. foot — a measure
  6. land — a country
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. wound — an injury
  9. field — for sport
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. field — farmland
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wound — an injury
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to click
  16. field — a subject
  17. land — ground
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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