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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. season — of the year
  8. dip — to sink
  9. clip — a video
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. season — in sport
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wake — a trail
  20. clip — to cut
  21. stand — to bear
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. clip — for paper

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