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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rock — music
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. game — wild animals
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mug — to rob
  8. capital — money
  9. mug — a cup
  10. kid — child
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — farmland
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rush — hurry
  16. field — a subject
  17. mug — a face
  18. rock — a stone
  19. saw — the tool
  20. field — for sport
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rock — to move gently

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