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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. saw — the tool
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ground — crushed
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. game — a match
  15. field — farmland
  16. saw — the tool
  17. stand — to bear
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. field — for sport
  20. ground — the earth
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. ground — a position
  23. chair — a leader
  24. field — a subject

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