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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. capital — money
  4. field — a subject
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. kid — child
  8. race — a contest
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pound — a weight
  12. capital — a city
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. field — for sport
  18. rush — hurry
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — the arms race

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