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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. track — a path
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — a short time
  12. field — for sport
  13. stand — to bear
  14. track — a song
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — in sport
  18. game — a match
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. spell — magic
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. field — farmland
  23. game — wild animals
  24. track — to keep track

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