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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. can — to be able to
  3. field — a subject
  4. wind — moving air
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. can — a tin
  8. suit — in cards
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kid — child
  12. suit — to fit
  13. field — farmland
  14. date — the fruit
  15. can — a tin
  16. roll — a list
  17. cell — in biology
  18. suit — clothes
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — a phone
  21. field — for sport
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. roll — on a roll

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