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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  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 — a straw man
  2. field — a subject
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. vault — a safe
  7. pound — a weight
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — for light
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. field — for sport
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  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