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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  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. field — for sport
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. kid — child
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. spell — a short time
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. spell — letters
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. field — a subject
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. spell — magic
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. field — farmland
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. kid — to tease
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. plane — a tool
  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