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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — a position
  7. row — a line
  8. chest — of your body
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. field — farmland
  11. firm — decided
  12. firm — steady
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. firm — a company
  16. row — to paddle
  17. field — for sport
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. chest — a box
  21. field — a subject
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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