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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 120 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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. stand — to bear
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. season — in sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. season — of the year
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cue — for pool
  11. kid — child
  12. spring — of water
  13. field — farmland
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cue — a signal
  16. spring — the season
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — a coil

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