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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. kid — child
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. field — farmland
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. pit — in a race
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wake — a trail
  14. field — a subject
  15. charge — a price
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. charge — electricity
  19. rush — hurry
  20. charge — in control
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. pit — a hole
  23. field — for sport
  24. band — a ring

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