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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bass — the fish
  4. club — for dancing
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. bass — low music
  11. club — for golf
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — farmland
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. face — to confront
  21. wind — moving air
  22. club — a group
  23. field — for sport
  24. wind — to turn a key

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