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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. ball — a great time
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. ball — a dance
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. shower — rain
  9. present — there
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. present — the time now
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cold — not warm
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. shower — to wash

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