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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  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. object — an aim
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. spring — the season
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. object — to protest
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. scale — size or range
  10. spring — of water
  11. pound — a weight
  12. scale — in music
  13. field — farmland
  14. rush — hurry
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. track — a path
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. track — to keep track
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. object — a thing
  23. track — a song
  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