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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitch — completely
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. chest — a box
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. mug — to rob
  13. mug — a face
  14. mug — a cup
  15. field — for sport
  16. present — there
  17. wake — a trail
  18. present — the time now
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. wake — before a funeral

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