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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 116 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. swing — in golf
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. field — a subject
  9. lean — to bend
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. swing — to play on
  12. lean — thin
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. swing — music
  17. branch — a division
  18. field — farmland
  19. bat — the animal
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. sharp — clever
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. fan — a supporter

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