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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. net — for catching
  4. foot — a measure
  5. field — farmland
  6. net — after costs
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. mug — a face
  9. kid — child
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. field — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. net — in sport
  18. chest — of your body
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — in music
  21. mug — a cup
  22. mug — to rob
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. kid — to tease

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