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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. field — farmland
  4. swing — in golf
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. lie — to recline
  8. race — the arms race
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. stand — to bear
  16. cell — a phone
  17. swing — music
  18. race — a contest
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. field — a subject
  22. race — humankind
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — an untruth

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