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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. lie — to recline
  5. land — a country
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. land — to come down
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fork — in a road
  10. tear — from crying
  11. field — for sport
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. land — ground
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. swing — music
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chair — a professorship

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