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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. suit — in cards
  3. suit — clothes
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cold — not warm
  6. field — for sport
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. field — a subject
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. suit — to fit
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pound — a weight
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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