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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. kid — to tease
  3. plane — a tool
  4. fine — high quality
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. kid — child
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. fine — all right
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. chest — a box
  23. degree — an amount
  24. jam — a tight spot

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