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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. field — a subject
  3. mug — to rob
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. land — to come down
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kid — to tease
  9. mate — a partner
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. field — farmland
  12. mate — to breed
  13. land — ground
  14. field — for sport
  15. tube — a container
  16. kid — child
  17. land — a country
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. rash — hasty
  20. stock — shares
  21. mug — a cup
  22. rash — a series
  23. stock — goods
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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