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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. swing — in golf
  8. lean — thin
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. field — a subject
  13. swing — to play on
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. swing — music
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. lean — to bend
  21. cold — an illness
  22. snap — to click
  23. field — for sport
  24. pitcher — a jug

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