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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bass — low music
  4. field — farmland
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. kid — to tease
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bass — the fish
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. kid — child
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. game — a match
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. field — a subject
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. rock — a stone
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. field — for sport

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