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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spell — letters
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. kid — child
  6. spell — magic
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bear — the animal
  12. lie — to recline
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. spell — a short time
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. cell — a phone
  19. kid — to tease
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wave — of the sea

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