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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — an illness
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. court — for sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. field — a subject
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. field — farmland
  15. track — a song
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. wound — an injury
  19. snap — to click
  20. toast — bread
  21. track — to keep track
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. track — a path

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