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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitch — completely
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. dip — to sink
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. field — farmland
  8. wake — a trail
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bass — low music
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bass — the fish
  16. tear — to rip
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. field — a subject
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bass — the instrument

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