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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. track — a song
  4. rush — hurry
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. last — finally
  8. field — a subject
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. bat — the animal
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. wound — an injury
  17. last — to go on
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. track — to keep track
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. last — final
  23. track — a path
  24. kid — child

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