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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. field — farmland
  3. content — happy
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. craft — boats
  6. kid — to tease
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. stand — to bear
  12. root — the cause
  13. content — the amount
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. lie — to recline
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — of a word
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — a skill
  23. kid — child
  24. stand — on your feet

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