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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.

Make a worksheet

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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. field — for sport
  4. file — a document
  5. field — a subject
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. file — a tool
  8. field — farmland
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. craft — a skill
  12. kid — to tease
  13. craft — boats
  14. file — a line of people
  15. ground — a position
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kid — child
  18. arm — part of the body

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