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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. roll — a cake
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. cell — a phone
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. lie — to recline
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. roll — a list
  11. tear — from crying
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. tear — to rip
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cell — in biology
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. tear — from crying
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. field — farmland

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