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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. mate — to breed
  4. field — for sport
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. field — a subject
  8. mate — a partner
  9. field — farmland
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — to tease
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mate — a friend
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — a container
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. kid — child
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. straw — a straw man

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