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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. row — a line
  3. field — farmland
  4. kid — to tease
  5. ball — a dance
  6. field — for sport
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. kid — child
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. firm — a company
  12. degree — an amount
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. staff — employees
  15. firm — decided
  16. degree — temperature
  17. row — to paddle
  18. firm — steady
  19. staff — employees
  20. degree — from a university
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. field — a subject
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. perch — the fish

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