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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. fine — all right
  4. field — farmland
  5. charge — in control
  6. last — to go on
  7. clip — for paper
  8. last — finally
  9. fine — high quality
  10. last — final
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. charge — electricity
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. field — for sport
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. shower — to wash
  18. clip — a video
  19. bulb — for light
  20. clip — to cut
  21. charge — a price
  22. bulb — for light
  23. shower — rain
  24. field — a subject

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