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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. row — to paddle
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. field — for sport
  13. shower — to wash
  14. kid — child
  15. field — farmland
  16. shower — rain
  17. field — a subject
  18. kid — to tease

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