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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 116 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. field — for sport
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wake — a trail
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. field — a subject
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. rock — a stone
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. field — farmland
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. rock — music
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — moving air

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