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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. net — after costs
  3. field — farmland
  4. swing — in golf
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. dip — to sink
  7. field — a subject
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. net — for catching
  11. swing — to play on
  12. field — for sport
  13. net — in sport
  14. swing — music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. rule — a law
  17. kid — to tease
  18. squash — the sport
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. rule — government
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rule — to rule out

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