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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. rush — hurry
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. field — a subject
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. field — farmland
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pound — a weight
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. cell — a phone
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. cell — in biology

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