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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. stand — to bear
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. field — for sport
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. mug — to rob
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. field — a subject
  14. game — a match
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. field — farmland
  19. mug — a cup
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. season — in sport
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. straw — a straw man

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