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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  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. ball — a dance
  2. field — for sport
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. chest — a box
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. cold — an illness
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ball — a great time
  14. field — a subject
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. hand — help
  21. field — farmland
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stand — to bear
  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