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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. lie — to recline
  5. kid — child
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. cold — an illness
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. row — to paddle
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wake — a trail
  24. row — a line

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