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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a partner
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. mate — a friend
  12. field — a subject
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fork — in a road
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rest — a break
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rest — what's left
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. cold — not warm

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