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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. scale — size or range
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — for sport
  8. present — the time now
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. kid — child
  12. stock — shares
  13. kid — to tease
  14. field — farmland
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — crushed
  17. field — a subject
  18. present — there
  19. ground — the earth
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. squash — to crush
  24. stock — goods

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