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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — farmland
  3. suit — to fit
  4. fall — the season
  5. hand — help
  6. ground — crushed
  7. suit — in cards
  8. fall — to drop
  9. ground — a position
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. hand — in cards
  13. net — in sport
  14. ground — the earth
  15. net — after costs
  16. sharp — clever
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. suit — clothes
  22. fall — to drop
  23. net — for catching
  24. hand — part of the body

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